At Kraken, your security and privacy are our top priorities. We understand that providing personal information, identity documents, and facial/biometric data can feel sensitive.This article explains why we collect this information, how we keep it secure, and how you can verify your identity quickly and with confidence.
Kraken is a regulated exchange, and we are legally required to verify the identity of our clients to ensure compliance with global financial regulations. In addition to verifying a photo of a government-issued identity document, we may prompt you to verify a photo of your face. This additional check may be required depending on your country of residence or the products you use on our platform. We may also, at our discretion, prompt you to complete additional verification checks to keep your account secure. Verifying your identity helps Kraken prevent account takeovers, impersonation attempts, unauthorized transactions, and fraudulent activity targeting your account. Biometric verification (such as a live face photo) adds an additional layer of protection to ensure that you, and only you, can access your account.
If you are required to submit a Face Photo to verify your identity, you will see a prompt to do so when you log in to your account. To ensure your face photo is verified as quickly as possible, please follow all on-screen instructions and prompts. In general, we recommend following these guidelines:
Ensure you are in a well-lit location. Avoid backlighting or harsh shadows that obscure your facial features.
Do not wear hats, sunglasses, or anything covering your face.
Look directly at the camera, and follow the on-screen prompts to turn your head from side to side or adjust your position to ensure that clear photos are captured. We’ll capture the photos automatically and send them to our verification partner, Persona, to complete the verification process.
Make sure your background does not contain sensitive information (documents, passwords, screens, etc.)
For security reasons, you must take a real-time photo of your face captured by your device’s camera. Photos cannot be uploaded from your device or camera roll.
You may need to grant Kraken access to your device’s camera. You can do this in your device’s Settings.
Tips to retry if your Face Photo submission is unsuccessful:
Retake the photo in clearer lighting.
Ensure your camera lens is clean.
Remove any accessories that obscure your face.
Follow the on-screen prompts to make slight movements or adjust your position
Try taking the photo on a different device if possible. Newer smartphones often provide better image quality.
If you’re having trouble with verification on your mobile device, we recommend making sure your app is updated to the latest version. Many mobile devices do this automatically, but you can update your app manually by going to your account settings within the App Store (for iOS devices) or the Google Play store (for Android devices) and selecting the app you’d like to update, or by selecting Update All.
You’ll have a limited number of attempts to complete verification automatically. If you’re unable to complete the process within the available attempts, our Support Team will review your submission manually and if we require a new submission, we will contact you by email to assist further. Documents submitted for manual review may take 24 hours to process.
Your privacy and data security are of the utmost importance to us. It is our policy to safeguard the confidentiality of personal information and respect individual privacy. All biometric documents are collected for the sole purpose of identity verification and are encrypted. Face photos are verified through our vendor Persona, in line with our legal obligation to comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) and customer due diligence regulations.
Kraken continuously monitors and improves security infrastructure to stay ahead of emerging threats. We follow global data protection frameworks, such as GDPR (where applicable). We know your personal information is sensitive, and we treat it with the utmost respect and protection. If you have additional questions or concerns about how your information is handled, we encourage you to review our information security practices and our privacy policy.