Unico Delivers Advanced Biometric Technology to Help Carriers Comply with New Anatel Regulations

Unico, the leading identity verification network in Latin America, is providing the mobile telecommunications sector with the technology required to comply with Technical Standard GT-SEG.2026.11 issued by Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). Published on October 26, the regulation establishes mandatory requirements and operational responsibilities for implementing facial biometric validation across prepaid and postpaid mobile lines. The initiative is designed to prevent fraud and social engineering attacks by linking every phone line directly to the subscriber’s national tax ID (CPF) and verified facial biometrics, with compliance enforcement taking effect starting September 2027.

"A mobile line activated through identity theft serves as an open door for severe fraud across multiple platforms and ecosystems. That is why verifying identity at the very beginning of the onboarding journey protects every downstream transaction for both subscribers and carriers. Our role is to guide the industry through this transition, delivering maximum accuracy and trust at the exact moment of service activation," said Joelson Vellozo Júnior, Director of Institutional Relations at Unico.

Scope of the New Regulatory Framework

The directive applies to all mobile service providers nationwide, including Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) with dedicated infrastructure, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), and authorized partner networks. The mandate extends across every customer touchpoint, spanning physical retail locations, authorized dealerships, digital channels, and mobile applications. Facial biometrics is now mandatory for both individuals and registered sole proprietors (MEIs) during new prepaid and postpaid line activations, profile updates, SIM swaps, and carrier number porting. Activations cannot proceed without completed biometric authentication, and existing subscribers who fail to complete re-registration within the regulatory window will face temporary line suspension followed by permanent cancellation.

To achieve compliance with Anatel standards, systems must deploy advanced liveness detection technology certified under the international ISO/IEC 30107-3 standard for Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) Level 2 or higher. This certification level confirms the system's ability to resist sophisticated presentation attacks, including 3D masks and elaborate physical replicas, far outperforming basic tools that only flag static photos or standard video playbacks. The regulation further mandates 1:1 and 1:N facial comparison against verified public or private reference databases meeting regulatory standards, alongside dedicated defenses against deepfakes and real-time video injection. All processed biometric data remains strictly confined to onboarding and fraud-prevention purposes under applicable data privacy guidelines.

Market-Leading Solution for Compliance and High Conversion

Against this regulatory backdrop, Unico delivers the ideal technology to ensure complete compliance paired with the highest onboarding completion rate on the market. The company’s liveness engine combines defense-grade security with near-instant response times, achieving a 97% first-attempt approval rate. Built from the ground up, this proprietary engine actively counters generative AI threats, securing carrier networks without imposing unnecessary barriers on legitimate users.

"The sophistication of cybercrime, driven by cheap and accessible generative AI tools, has rendered superficial biometric checks completely obsolete. Our proprietary liveness engine delivers advanced PAD certification, providing surgical accuracy against complex spoofing attempts while keeping the onboarding flow intuitive, fast, and frictionless for legitimate consumers," added Joelson.

During the first half of 2026, Unico identified and blocked more than 13 million identity fraud attempts across 23 enterprise sectors—representing nearly one prevented attack every second. As Latin America's identity verification leader, the company leverages facial biometrics, artificial intelligence, and multi-layered security architectures to validate identity with absolute precision, mitigating risk in real time. Unico’s technology adheres to globally recognized security frameworks and certifications, including SOC 2 Type II, iBeta Levels 1 and 2 (ISO/IEC 30107-3), BixeLab, and ISO/IEC 42001.

About Unico
Unico is the leading identity verification company in Latin America, delivering cutting-edge technology to major brands across 23 economic sectors. With sustainable growth of over 30% year-over-year, the company processes more than 3 billion annual authentications on its global platform, powered by a proprietary liveness engine and advanced artificial intelligence models.

As the largest provider of security solutions for public and private banks in Brazil and Argentina, Unico operates in more than 20 countries, with offices located in Brazil, the US (Silicon Valley), Mexico, Argentina, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, and Portugal. Founded in Brazil in 2007, it became a unicorn in 2021 and reached a $2.6 billion valuation in investment rounds led by prestigious global funds such as SoftBank, General Atlantic, and Goldman Sachs. For more information, visit www.unico.io.

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