What is ConnectID? And is this the CRAZIEST Telco porting story ever?

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powers and don't ever lose again.

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Great to have you company.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for downloading and Merry Christmas.

I've just realized I've not been saying that at all.

But it is December now, so we're allowed to.

But unfortunately, there's a lot of things I pre-record and that's not a word I've

been saying and I've just remembered it.

Anyway, you'll bear with me.

We're going to try and punch out three more shows before Christmas this week,

the week after, and then the week after that.

So the last show will be December 16, Jacko's birthday.

So stick around for another three weeks of information,

entertainment, learning, and whatever else we can come up with.

And then we'll take a quick Chrissy break and then we'll be over at CES.

You'll get all the CES information through two blokes.

And then we'll be back mid-January for the EFTM podcast once again,

of course, with all your calls.

What?

I mean, I can't remember what I talked about last week,

so I don't want to repeat anything.

But I have announced that next year I'll be exclusively on the triple M network

for radio, so if you have been listening to me elsewhere,

you'll only hear me now on the triple M network.

We've got some cool plans for that.

There'll be some weekly tech information that we'll have on the entire

triple M network across regional Australia, which is awesome.

So pumped about that and somewhat simplifying my life a little.

But I'll miss the talk-back nature of some of the stations that I have been doing.

So a little bit of a change for next year, but just that, just a little tweak.

It's all good.

The social media ban kicks in in a week and my daughter this morning

got the notification from Snapchat.

So she did the facial scan.

She said she was 16.

She's not.

I did the facial scan and it validated that.

So she's allowed to stay on now because Snapchat has taken best efforts.

Now, will they kick her off because I've been public about that on the television?

I don't know.

Poor thing.

I feel really sorry for her.

But she may get flagged just for being my daughter, unfortunately.

So goes life.

But yeah, it's going to be a wild few weeks for a parents of early teens

as they find their way through it all.

And if you are a parent, check your kids' phones

because they're doing something else.

You know it.

They're definitely doing something else.

Like, I've just taken a photo and I've sent it to Yope,

which is basically the new Snapchat.

Like, that's what it is.

It's like B Real, but Snaps.

I mean, it's weird.

I don't really get it myself.

But is this what kids want to do?

Will they be okay with this?

It's not really a kind of a DM place, but maybe it is.

There is DMs.

I don't know.

Yeah, there's going to be other apps created.

It's really that simple.

And we can't really control that very easily.

Anyway, all that to come.

Plus, we're going to talk about Snapchat's age verification process

and we're going to tell you what Connect ID is.

All that to come here on the EFTM podcast.

Join the conversation.

Head to eftm.com and click Ask Trev.

Great to have you company and look for helping you out.

If you have a question, you can do just that.

Or you can send a text to 047657657.

Ian's on the line.

Good day, Ian.

Good day, Trevor. How are you?

Really good. What can I do for you?

Look, I'm just looking at getting a new phone.

I've currently got a Samsung S20 FE.

Yep.

And I'm looking to sort of...

It's not totally failing,

but it's sort of sailing a little bit long in the truth.

You can feel that mojo saying,

it might be time for something different.

And so that's a 4.5 year old phone now.

Probably 4.5 year old.

But do you feel like it's that because it's slowing down?

Like, have you thought about just wiping it and starting again?

No, I haven't.

Is that because you're kind of just wants a new phone?

Yeah.

Fair enough, too.

What are you considering?

Are you considering the latest FE from Samsung?

Well, I was looking at that, but I was...

Works...

I've split phones.

I used to just have one phone now.

I've got two.

I've got a work phone and a personal phone.

Yep.

So my work phone is now a Google Pixel 8A.

Yep.

5G.

And it works fine.

You like it?

Yeah, I do.

I do like it.

So I was looking at a Pixel 9A.

Yes.

But I'm not sure whether they come in a 5G or not.

Wow.

I'm highly confident that the 9A is 5G.

But yeah, that's a good point.

Like, why would they not?

Yeah.

Well, it's funny...

I know.

I just...

It's funny because there was a period there where they put them...

They would put 5G in the name because it was early on.

But yeah.

No, the Pixel 9A definitely has a 5G variant.

I'm looking at it on JbHiFi right now at $850.

Oh.

Look, it's a great little phone.

It's the phone I give my mum because it just works.

And I know it's going to work.

It doesn't have any bloatware because it's a clear Android.

Have you noticed that about using the other Pixel

that you feel like you're getting a cleaner version of Android

compared to what Sam said?

Yeah, I am.

And it is a cleaner version.

But because it's company-owned, it's sanitised.

Yes, right.

So it's only got their apps on it and all that sort of stuff.

So, you don't get the full experience.

Is that what you've seen with that Pixel?

Is that what makes you want to go Pixel for yourself

and not go another Samsung?

No, it doesn't worry me at all.

I'm not first one way or another.

That's awesome.

I've always had Samsung.

Yep.

I've always had Samsung.

But I'm not, you know, I'm not agnostic to going to something else.

But I won't go Apple.

I'm not an Apple person.

That's fair.

But it's great to be open-minded away from Samsung as well.

I mean, everyone should be open-minded

because there's either money to save, better features.

There's just always going to be a difference.

But there is a familiarity people have to a brand,

whether it's staying with Google or staying with Samsung

or staying with Apple.

So it's totally fine.

But the good news is the Pixel 9a is 5G.

You can get it for $850, which is a pretty good price.

At least you can get it on a special at the moment.

Well, yeah, you might find a special right now as well.

I would only say what else is in that price range, you know,

because I'm just going to have a quick look on JB's myself

and go, OK, well, let's say, you know, between,

let's say, $700 and $900, what are the options, right?

Because there's a lot of phones.

But I wonder if most of them, and they are,

most of them are now, most of them are Samsung.

So the Galaxy S25 FE is $899.

At the time of recording, that's on special.

So it may not be when people hear this.

Even the Mate, just FYI, at the time we're recording,

the Google Pixel 10, right,

which is the current model latest phone, 5G, is $897.

Mate, that's only $50 more than they're selling the 9a for.

Yeah.

You'd be utterly mad to buy the 9a when the 10 is available.

It's $50 more.

With $50 more, mate.

I mean, that's some pretty crazy deals there.

And it's kind of weird to look on the website of JB's

and go, that doesn't make any sense.

There is an Oppo there as well around the same price.

There's a great Motorola, the Motorola Edge 50.

If you want to have a look at that and feel it in the hand,

it's a very, very slick looking phone.

But I think you might have,

and the other one to think about is the nothing phone.

It's a really...

Well, let's say everything I was thinking of was the nothing phone.

Yeah.

I mean, the nothing 2 is $749.

I'm confused as to why I can't see another nothing in the list

in that price range.

Maybe it's a bit higher.

But, mate, the nothing phone isn't...

So I wouldn't say it's as clear and clean as Pixel

because it actually adds a layer of design

that's just funky and different.

And yeah, I like the look of it.

But it's also a really good phone.

But I think if I was you,

I'd probably land right today.

I'd land on the Pixel 10 at $897.

Mate, that's a $1347 phone,

discounted by $450,

as I say, at the time of recording.

But that's probably the best deal available right now.

All right, no problem.

Let's go shopping.

I'll do it. Thanks for that.

All right, mate.

Thank you so much for getting in touch.

Enjoy the new phone.

Let's know how you go.

Yeah, I'll do it. Thanks, mate.

Cheers, buddy. Good on you.

Yeah, I mean, right.

And as I said, at the time of recording,

I know this episode will go out next week.

And it's still Black Friday weekend when I'm recording.

Apologies.

I'm a bit of a week ahead because we're trying to, you know,

get to the end of the year.

I mean, that's, isn't that remarkable?

You could be standing at JB's and there's the 9A,

which is a paired back version of last year's phone for 850.

And there's a 10, which is the current version of the,

you know, current phone,

not paired back for $50 more, less than 50.

Very, very good.

It always pays to just all I do when I'm talking to people,

whether it's on the radio podcast,

I just bring up the JB HiFi website.

And I do the JB website because I find it simplest

to do the thing like the price filter and stuff like that.

Harvey's and others, I just feel like their UI,

user experience just isn't the same.

And I frankly, I just like JB's as a brand.

I've never had a commercial deal with the buggers.

I'd take one if you had one, but I don't.

So yeah, that's what I do.

I'm just looking at what else is in that price range

so that we can make sure we're not missing out on something

that might be quite interesting.

Tech, cars, lifestyle.

This is the EFTM podcast with Trevor Long.

You can text Trev now thanks to Vodafone

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So 0477657657, get in touch.

We'd love to hear from you.

Brenda's on the line today.

Brenda.

Hi Trevor, how are you?

I'm very well.

You're from Regional New South Wales,

a little town I would drive through many a time

in my younger years when driving from Griffith to Narendra.

You're in Leighton.

Oh, that's correct.

My brother lives in Leighton now

and literally just left my office an hour ago to drive home.

Oh, really?

Small world.

It's a very small world.

What can I do for you, Brenda?

Well, I'm looking at getting one of those robotic vacuum

mops.

Love it.

What sort of size house have we got here?

How would you describe your home?

It's only a three bedroom one bath.

But it's not a big home.

Carpets, hardwoods.

What's the floors?

Vinyl planks.

We're just having them put down there.

Hard floors.

Right, OK.

Excellent.

And what made you think,

hey, I wouldn't mind one of those?

Because we live out on a farm,

so it gets really dusty.

And I thought they would be a lot easier

to keep the floors clean.

That mean mopping and sweeping every day.

I'll be honest with you,

and I say this now and then,

but I probably don't get it out enough.

We still have a vacuum.

We still have a push floor mop.

We just don't use it much.

And it's probably if we're having Christmas at our place,

we might go pretty hard and do a manual clean.

But we've gotten to the point, Brenda,

over many years of different robots in our home

where my wife now doesn't disagree with the robot's actions.

She'll come home and go,

you put the robot on, didn't you?

I'm like, yes, you can feel it under your feet.

It's been done.

It's clean here.

You will love the fact that it's just out there every day.

And you can program it to go out every day.

And for a smallish home,

it will easily do the whole home in a day.

You just have to remember things like maybe keep the doors open

for the bedrooms and stuff like that.

And what we do is once,

kind of once a week,

and what I do is I do it when either my wife goes out

or we're all going out.

I'll just put all the chairs up on the table

so that, because a robot will work around everything.

It'll go around chair legs,

but it's not cleaning under the chair leg, is it?

So every now and then,

I put all the chairs up

and I take a few cushions off the floor

whatever they might be

and so that it's doing more of the floor

than it might normally do in a random day.

Now, the bigger question is,

what's your budget?

Well, right at this moment,

I've been doing some research.

What have you narrowed it down to?

I've narrowed it down to ANOVA.

It's a Z-60-U-L-T-R-T-A.

It's the one I've looked at,

but I just wanted to know,

like, I've heard that the ones with the pads on them

are not as good as the ones with the rollers.

That is true.

So you've got the MOBA Z-60 has the roller, right?

So you're at the pinnacle of technology right there.

That's good.

There's no doubt in my mind,

we're on our second generation of the roller

in our house with an eco-vax.

There's no doubt in my mind that it's a better clean.

I mean, the spinning pads are excellent,

but when you're literally rotating that roller at speed,

it's definitely doing a better job.

I've not used a MOBA.

I've definitely heard of them and seen them at big shows.

The price I'm seeing on the MOBA Z-60 right now

is two and a half grand.

Is that correct what you're seeing?

Yeah, yeah.

Well, they're actually on special for 2-2 at the moment.

I would only draw you to have a little look

at a brand called Eco-vax.

Eco-vax, I've seen those two.

Eco-vax is pretty unchallenged as the market leader, right?

Yeah.

And I will say that they've advertised with me for years,

but I've also used pretty much every vacuum

they've ever released.

And it's the one that's in our home.

Now, this year's model, if you want to use model numbers,

they're best.

I'm talking about their best product is the X-11.

Last year's model is the X-8.

And both of them have that roller that you want.

Last year's model, the X-8,

is $1,488 at JB Hi-Fi today.

Oh, right, eh?

That's $1,000 off.

Because again, at the time of recording this episode

podcast, we'll go out next week.

But at the time of recording,

they're in Black Friday sale time still.

That's an unbelievable price.

For a $2,500 vacuum to be $1,000 off is phenomenal.

This year's model, the X-11,

is different in a couple of ways.

One of them doesn't matter to you.

One of them is it can charge itself pretty quickly

while it's kind of cleaning itself.

I don't think you'll need that

because your house is small enough.

It'll get it done on my battery.

But it does have a very easy to clean out dustbin.

So have you got a stick vacuum right now,

like a Dyson or anything like that?

Yes, I do.

So you know, you take the handle off

and then you dump the dustbin in the bin.

You just empty it out, right?

Yeah.

So most of these vacuums that you're looking at,

and I'm pretty sure the Mova is the same,

has a bag in it.

Like an old dustbag from the old days, right?

The Mova has a dustbag.

So does the EcoVax X8, right?

Now the dustbag will last you,

well, it'll last me a few months, three months.

It might last you only two

because you've got a very dusty property, right?

So every two months, you need to change that bag,

which means you also need to,

every three or four months,

buy a couple of extra bags, you know?

Because it's replenished.

You don't reuse them.

The X-11, this year's model,

has on the front of it what looks like

the head of a stick vacuum.

Like it's got the barrel

with the cyclonic kind of vacuum in it.

You just take that out and empty it in the bin.

So there's no bag anymore.

Honestly, game changer.

That sounds good.

Now, it's a $3,000 vacuum

that is currently $500 off.

So it's two and a half right now.

So it's going to be a little bit more than the Mova.

But I will absolutely guarantee you

it's better than the Mova.

All right.

And you know what, Brenda?

I'm so confident in that that I,

once you've bought it,

I want to produce a robber

get back in touch with you in a month or so

and say genuine,

I want a genuine review from you about it

because this will be a great test

of both dust gathering, you know, the mopping,

because Brenda,

I think you're someone that's very proud of your home

and your flaws.

You're going to be very critical

of its mopping capabilities.

So I'm very confident.

I'm very confident you'll like what it does.

You know, the little roller pokes out of the edge of this thing

so I can get closer to the edge.

Let me be clear.

That's good.

That was my next question.

If you get down on your hands and knees,

I'm sure you'll see something on the very edge,

five millimeters from the edge.

But Brenda, every two weeks,

you'll just do an edge clean,

like just to absolutely be sure.

But I don't think you'll notice.

I really don't.

Now, another question for you.

And I see there's not a lot of them around.

There was one in the,

and it was in the Mover and Nova,

I should say, again, brand.

They had a hot water one,

but no other brand has hot water.

Is that just a novelty?

No, it's just not advertised enough

because the EcoVax both do hot water

so that you only put cold water in it.

But it runs it through heat element

and heats it up to, how many degrees?

So that it's a more hygienic clean.

Yeah, so the EcoVax do that.

EcoVax definitely does a hot water wash.

They call it a hot water soak and washing,

75 degree hot wash of the roller.

Oh, well, there you go.

Not a problem.

Yeah, no, I looked at it

and they said that was the only one that had it

and I said, thought to myself,

this could be just a little.

I'd love to know where you saw that

because it's kind of not true for a start.

But you know, the other thing is

the way these companies work, right?

So let's say Mova has a 80 degree hot wash.

They can say they're the other one with an 80 degree

because EcoVax does 75.

Do you know what I mean?

It's marketing.

Yeah, and look, it could just be that

where I was looking,

they don't have these EcoVax.

That's true.

That might be true.

What's in town where in Leighton

is there are Harveys, what's near you?

What's the best kind of big box store?

Do you have to go to Griffith or Harveys?

Yes, go to Griffith or Wagah for Harveys.

We've got better electrical here in Leighton.

Well, Harvey Norman have the X11,

which is the bee's knees for 2487.

Oh, right.

And that's a dollar cheaper than JB Hi-Fi.

Yeah.

Well, we don't have one of those.

We got one in Wagah and JB.

Yeah, so it's a long drive for a robot vacuum

but you can have a lovely lunch while you're over there.

But honestly, have a little bit of research today

on the X11 from EcoVax, ECOVACX.

Eco is in economical.

Vax is in vacuum.

E1 word, EcoVax, X11.

Have a look at that.

Compare it to all the things you learned about the MOVA

and it's your decision.

But personally, I feel very confident in your decision.

I think you'll love the EcoVax.

It's a beautiful looking machine, too,

with that cyclonic vacuum on the front.

You'll love it.

No worries.

Now, one more question.

Does it go up a little step?

We've got a little lift.

How big is the lift?

Probably about a centimetre.

What are we talking about?

A centimetre, yes.

About a centimetre or so.

A centimetre is fine.

It's just from above your room

to step up into the laundry.

Yep.

A centimetre is fine.

It'll do 2.4 centimetres.

When it's mapping the home,

you might need to label that in the map

so that it knows to kind of turn on

the little legs that come up.

Legs, yep.

But yes, it'll do 2.4 centimetres.

Very, very good.

Now, can I just tell you something?

You are my husband's greatest fan.

He's your greatest fan.

Is he?

Whatever you say goes.

Can I just tell you that?

How does he take in my information?

TV, radio, what does he do?

He goes on YouTube

and wherever he can find

when he's looking for electronic devices,

he goes on and looks up your name

to see what you recommend.

I hope he's subscribed to the magazine

that I sent out a couple of days ago.

I hope he's just...

Did he get the magazine last year?

Do you remember seeing an EFTM magazine

lying around anywhere?

No, but I know he goes on the website.

All right, well, I will make a note

and I'll get producer Rob to text you

and you'll get your address

and I'll send him out a magazine, okay?

Make sure he's got a copy of my magazine.

He literally just published it.

He'll just love that.

As I said, he's your biggest fan.

Lovely.

Well, you tell him I said hello

and I appreciate it

because it means a lot to hear that from people.

Not a problem.

Well, thank you so much.

All right, enjoy the beautiful town of Leighton

and I'll tell my brother to look out for you.

He's a paramedic inspector in the area

so hopefully you don't have to come across him

after the show.

No, well, there you go.

Not a problem.

Thank you.

Happy shopping.

Enjoy.

I will.

Thank you.

Cheers.

No worries at all.

There you go.

Yeah, Brenda lives in Leighton

out near my brother

and shout out to her husband.

I should have asked his name.

I'm an idiot.

I got starstruck by a super fan.

Anyway, I'll make sure I get a magazine.

I do have a few leftover magazines.

I can't send them out to everyone.

I'm sorry,

but I'll do my best to send one to a super fan.

Of course.

Great to have you company

and I'd love to hear from you.

If you want to get in touch,

just go to the website at eftm.com.

Click Ask Trev

or you can send me a text.

Thanks to Vodafone.

Good to have you.

Now,

as you can see on screen.

In fact,

this is my channel,

orationhouse of television,

which looks a little funny to me,

but it'settimality as well.

So with that talk,

and I'll...

So,

congratulations here.

And I just remembered

that you are now

a unsuccessful

conversion

for Facebook.

And I get to

get rid of

you because

no,

you were

100%

Bisgu.

from others saying facial scan. And then we heard from Snapchat saying, look, you can

upload a government ID, you can do a facial scan, or you can use Connect ID, which connects

to your bank. And I went, what the hell's that? But then I started to think about it

and go, this, this is a very good way of verifying, obviously, if it's safe. So to

find out what on earth Connect ID is and understand how it's going to work in this

world of identity verification. I'm joined by Andrew Black from Australian Payments

Plus, which is kind of the umbrella that brings us a few different products, Andrew.

It is good to be here, Trev. Yeah, so Australian Payments Plus runs F-Pos,

BPay, Pay ID, real, the sort of domestic payment rails that people know and love

and have probably used for the last 30, 40 years. And in the last couple, we've

worked on developing Connect ID with major banks, which is really helping

people verify who they are without sharing data.

And so to give people the first and foremost, the certainty around Australian

Payments Plus, F-Pos, you know, that goes back a long time. Even in more recent

times, though, OSCO, the concept of immediate payments between one bank

and another, Pay ID, the idea of going, oh, you owe me money. Here's my

mobile number. That's you guys.

Exactly. Yeah, we've been running sort of that. You know, there's household

names and Australian domestic payments for decades now. And you're really

helping Aussies just do day-to-day things without having to think about it.

So what's the genesis of Connect ID? How did it come about? Was it the social

media ban or is it something you've been working on before that?

Yeah, we've been working on it for a while. So really, as we sort of seen

identity verification shifts over the last couple of decades, we think

about, we used to, you know, turn up to places with, you know,

documents and papers to post offices and branches to prove you are who

you are or something about you. And then really in the last sort of 15, you

know, 10 years, that's moved to taking photographs of those bits of paper and

bits of plastic, right? We sort of just put cameras and smartphones over

the top of them, which has made it a lot easier for individuals for sure.

It really exposed a lot of privacy risk because you're capturing, you

know, loads of unnecessary data, you know, lots of different numbers and

oversharing of data, which has led to a lot of the cyber breaches we've

seen over the last, you know, five to seven years. So ConnectID was really

born out of that of thinking about, well, how do we truly digitise, you

know, identity verification, as opposed to just putting a digital layer on

top of an analogue process?

Now, I will get into the conspiracy theorists in a minute, but there's

plenty of them. Don't worry, I'm on TikTok. They comment on my videos.

I'm across the conspiracy spokes around digital anything identity.

But in its simplest form, what we do here is we're using what the bank knows

about us, which is almost the highest level of knowledge in terms of

identity to do a third party verification. So in the case of

Snapchat, which is the obvious and most current one, and it's probably

your most high profile, I would think right now.

What Snapchat's doing is say, look, if you want to prove to me that

you're 16 or over, then you can use this option.

And now talk me through what happens if I click ConnectID.

What am I handing over? How much does Snapchat find out?

And am I using the Snapchat app to type in my banking password?

Like, how does it work?

Yeah, so this is the beauty of it, where, you know, we get to protect

privacy and anonymity while making a really easy customer experience.

So when you click on ConnectID and Snapchat or, you know, one of

our other big customers is Telstra, what you then see is a

drop down with the four major banks, right? So you'll be able to

see the banks there. And if you're a customer of one of those

banks, you click on your bank, you're then redirected to that

login experience as you would today, you know, ship either in

password or face ID, biometric, but you're logging into your

banking apps. What you'll then see is then a page that

says what Snapchat's asking for. And in that case, it's an

is over 16. Basically, it's like assertion, right, or claim

Yes, that you press and send to and then you're sent back to

Snapchat.

So you're sent in, if I'm a ComBank customer, I'm sent to the

ComBank app, not a ComBank website.

That's right. Yeah, to the ComBank app,

which is which is going to be reassuring for people, right?

Because they know how that app experience works. As you

mentioned, you know, you're used to seeing the face ID

pop up or the pin or whatever it might be. So that will be a

calming thing for people. There's a definite trust in a

banking app, I guess. And and then I think a lot of people

would know, even from the years of using Facebook login, you

know, you use Facebook login somewhere, it says, face this

website is going to hear these things about you. I use Google

login a lot now. And it'll say, you're authorizing this

website to know your email address and perhaps your

date of birth, whatever it might be. And so we're used to

that process. So what you're saying is it'll say, Snapchat

wants to know if you're over 16. And that's all it's

going to find out is if I'm over 16 or not.

Exactly that. Right. And that's exactly as you say, we

know all these trusted banks. And one of the beauties of this

is there's no new app to download, nothing new to

install. You don't have to take, you know, grab a

document to take a photograph or take a, you know, a selfie

or anything like that. You know, it takes me a couple

minutes to explain it, but it's a couple of clicks, right?

And it's simple and easy. Snapchat just gets here just

over 16. So it doesn't know if you're 17, it doesn't

know if you're 70, right? It just gets an assertion that

just says, I'm over 16. And it doesn't get your name either.

Wow. So yeah, because you're, that's interesting because

the, and this is not for you to comment on, but the social

media platforms need to use reasonable efforts to verify

the age. So, hmm, is it possible that I could log

into, if I choose, and again, I don't need to comment on

the social media because I don't want to get you in

trouble, but I as a parent don't care if my kids have

social media and I cannot be fine for that. That's my

life. It's up to the platforms. If I'm, if my daughter

and I are using a shared account and on my device, I

validate through Connect ID, then the, the, the messages

passed back to Snapchat in this case that there was an

over 16 verification performed, tick done, everyone's

happy. That, that's the process of, of reasonable

best steps that Snapchat is making to verify that

someone over 16 is using this account.

Yeah, that's, that's, that's broadly right. So there's a

couple of bits in that. Obviously Snapchat has to, to do

it's, it's, as you say, reasonable steps to determine

it's the user, you know, that, that is doing that. But

also for the, you know, the bank, what it is to make

sure is that when you log in, it's authenticating

that it is you, this Trev logging in. Yeah. So it's

Trev providing consent. Yeah, whatever it is. Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Exactly. So it's Trev providing consent to

share that you're over 16 and Trev's account, you

know, it's over 16. Importantly, again, no bank

account information is shared. Yep. But that's, that's

on you as a, as a banking user, you know, of making

sure you share that with services you're going to

use. You mentioned Telstra being a big customer. So I'm

assuming, and talk me through it, whatever you can

there, but I'm assuming there are options to

validate other bits of information or more

information. So for example, a bank might know

my postcode. You know, it could be that the

connect ID through a third party app is

requesting to verify postcode as well as an age.

Like is the, is the platform built to be that robust

and pretty much everything, but you know, whatever I

choose to share can be shared.

Exactly that. And what we work really closely with

with either Telstra or Snapchat or any of our

other customers is what's the minimum data they

need to meet either regulatory needs or their

reuse case. So Telstra do need to know your

name, right? If you're setting up a prepaid SIM

card, you know, and for, you know, what we

call that anti-money laundering purposes, make

sure you're using it appropriately. So they get

your name and your date of birth because they

need to legally know that, but that's it. And if

you were to have to use a document, what you

would also get is like, you know, the passport

number or whether you can drive a lorry or a

scooter or the class of license, all that

unnecessary data that becomes, you know, high

risk and highly toxic. So that's the real

beauty of it. We work with them to

restrict, you know, what's the minimum

they need to meet their requirements, but

then the minimum you get to share, right? So

it keeps you safe and secure. And it just

shares, you know, with Telstra, your name, your

date of birth, and that's it, right? You

don't need only the underlying documents

for Telstra. They get a proof, you know,

that it was checked by, you know, in your

case, CBA. Yeah. So they get that

confidence that ConnectID and CBA have

checked it. And as a user, you know,

that's you, right? You're off and away.

And I guess going back to what you

mentioned at the very, very start, you

know, we had the Optus type of breach,

MediBank, there were others. The problem

that those breaches surfaced was these

companies keep all their details on

file. So passports, driver's license

addresses, whatever it might be, dates

of birth. And I think, unfortunately, a

lot of people don't really seem to care

about that. But, you know, leaving that

aside and understanding myself the

potential for fraud and cyber scam

activity is, are we getting to a

point where we might be able to go

digital with all this, but there

might be some still some regulatory

changes needed in terms of storage

of information and things like that.

Because in the end, I want to set up a

phone account just by saying, I am who

I am, whether it's through my ID, the

government app, or through ConnectID,

that's the, that's the goal here,

isn't it? Just to be able to go, this

person is verified as real. Here's

their name confirmed, here's their

date of birth confirmed. That's all

you need. It's been ticked off. We

want to get to that point.

Absolutely. And I think the good news

is that sort of government, right?

So the great news here is that

Department of Finance and Minister

Gallagher Pass was called the Digital

ID Act at the end of last year, and

that puts us on a pathway to basically

making digital ID an option, right? And

really clearly it's voluntary. There's

not going to be no mandatory my ID,

big brother conspiracy thing, but an

option for users instead of having to

use the traditional methods.

These ConnectID, just one of the

platforms. So as I understood, and I

did some interviews with people when

that kind of regulation passed, but

you know, my ID, I think it's a

great app. I use it. I verified my

passport and a driver's license through

it. It said tick you're a real human,

and now I can use it certainly for

government services. But the idea is

that you'll log into, I don't know,

Harvey Norman to get finance, and

they'll verify here you are using a

digital ID. Is ConnectID an

option, an alternative option to my

ID if you choose not to go down the

government path, or do they live

together some way?

Yeah, they live together, so they

complement each other. So ConnectID

is, for we call it an exchange,

but effectively it's sort of a bridge

to allow you to choose your provider,

right, like your bank or your my ID.

Well, businesses, you know, don't want

us to have to integrate into, you know,

my ID, and then into, you know, into a

bank or into a state.

So you can make one of the

drop-downs, you can make the

drop-down option my ID, for example.

Exactly that. So we're accredited

by the government already and on a

pathway to offer that, to make it

easy. So, you know, consumers get

choice. That's the biggest thing for

us, right, making sure you get the

option of who you want to use, whether

that's my ID or, say, your, you know,

state government identity in the

future, or a private sector one like

your bank, right. We find that, you

know, choice breeds trust, right, and

I think this mandatory, you know, is

the thing that creates all those

conspiracy theories, right.

Now, speaking of conspiracy theories,

and I am days away from doing a

TikTok video on this because I just

love it, I'll feed them hard,

because every video I do about the

safety commissioner or the social

media ban talks about how this is

just the government implementing

digital ID and, you know, the end

is near and all that kind of stuff.

From your perspective, as a

provider in this space, because

this is really fascinating, if we, if

you were the government providing

my ID, you know, your payment

platform providing a connect ID,

you personally don't see any of

this, do you? So you don't see

the data, you just, I guess you

just have a log of this thing

happened, like, like talk to me

about the transparency of what data

you do see. Exactly. We don't see

anything about individuals at all,

no personal information or, you know,

PII is the acronym. We don't see

any of that. All we see is that

SNAP asks to verify somebody.

They ask to verify someone's over

16 and we see if it was

successful or not successful.

We don't see anything about the

user. We don't know anything

about them. That's the real

beauty of it. So you have a log

that a request occurred. You have a

log that it was probably Snapchat

doing it, that it was an age

assurance test, but you don't know

who the user was.

Yeah, you don't, you don't have that.

All you do is, you know, what

service essentially used your service.

Exactly. And going back to, you

know, why we set up connect ID in

the first place is to reduce the

honeypots of data that's out there,

right, that people would want to

breach or go into. So we

deliberately designed the network

in a way that is, that we

don't see or store any of that

user data at all. It doesn't even

pass through us.

Do you like me laugh when you see

the digital ID stuff? Because I go,

I don't think you appreciate how

much information the government

currently has. Like you go to the

ATO, they're looking at

everything. They know everything

that's going on. They're already

linked into your bank account,

folks. There is an amazing

digital identity of us all

already in the government's

possession because that's within

their rights. All they're

trying to do is actually

make things better with the digital

ID around the security of our

information. That's the way I

perceive it.

Yeah, and I think when done well,

which is a key part for

digital identity, it enhances

privacy and anonymity, right? We

see with a lot of these other

platforms that we're working

with for social media, you know,

there's a lot of fear of, well,

I don't want to be linked back

to something I posted in case

my employer sees it or anything

like that, not speaking from

personal experience, obviously,

but the benefit of using

digital ID as opposed to

photographs or documents

or taking selfies is that's

not the case. Again, this platform

we'll just find out I'm 16 or over.

It doesn't need to know who I am

and I can still have, you know,

Mickey Mouse is my handle,

if I really wanted to.

And look, I think that that's

the great thing about what

you're doing. And I have to ask,

what's next for you guys?

Because I mean, I'm a massive

lover of pay ID. I love the fact

that we finally got pretty,

pretty direct payments now

happening. There's so much

good happening already from

what you're doing. Is there

more to come?

Yeah, a lot more. Yeah, 2026

we're pretty busy. So I think

it's, it's exactly what you're

saying is how do we get this

in more in the hands of

more people, right? So we've

been helping the telco sector

and Telstra. We've been an

e-commerce in rental,

which is one that's really

paper heavy and pretty,

you know, full of friction of

having to handle for lots of

documents and now social media

and it's going to be expanding

that next year, right? So it's

so extensible, really what

we're doing and it's how do we

help more individuals

prove either their identity or

just something about themselves

like their age in an easy way

and protect themselves.

Was there any interest from

other platforms for using

connect ID or you were not

able to comment on that?

Because Snapchat seemed that

was that came out of the

blue for me and I thought,

oh my god, why are we doing

all this buddy face recognition

stuff when that's genius?

Yeah, no, there's certainly a

lot of interest, I think in

particular, you know, having

you know, Aussie owned, Aussie

based, you know, providers of

trusted infrastructure,

the connect ID are, you know,

that's one of the real

benefits. Snapchat is the

only one we've publicly

talked about at the moment,

but there's, you know,

there's eight days left.

Well, I'll tell you this,

my daughter did a face scan

and proved that she was 16,

even though she's 15.

So I think the kids will be

opting. You probably won't see

the numbers you might like

to see in terms of usage

because yours is accurate.

So yeah, it's an interesting

dilemma there, right?

When we did the technology

trials earlier in the year

and the 1100 page report came

out, which I'm sure you read

inside out.

Oh, totally.

But, you know, it was,

you know, we're the highest

level of accuracy, you know,

because it's deterministic,

not probabilistic, right?

So yeah, maybe when you're

offered choice, you'll opt

away from us.

But that's one of the reasons

the platform is really like us.

Well, the good thing is

the people that are offered

choice that absolutely do.

So you've got to remember

that a bunch of 16, 17, 18

year olds, maybe even some

25 year olds will be caught

up in this and they'll have

the option of an absolute

assurance of their identity

or sorry, of their age

through Connect ID.

And that's what you offer.

So that assurance is actually

reassuring to many people.

So, mate, it's fascinating.

I am super excited

about what you're doing.

And I'm glad to know

that it exists because it

fills me with great confidence

that we can have a strong,

secure, private, digital future

if we just can get past

some of the, I guess,

just the concern that people

have.

And that's why having these

conversations matters, mate.

So really appreciate it.

Managing Director of Digital

Trust, Connect ID,

Andrew Blackmate,

really appreciate your time.

Thanks, I really appreciate it.

Join the conversation.

Head to eftm.com

and click Ask Trev.

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Elbrans on the line today, Elbran.

Hey mate, how are you?

Yeah, really good.

What can I do for you?

Mate, yeah, I just got in contact

with you about an issue

I'm having with my service provider

with Phil Straher

for my mobile phone connection.

Okay, what's the problem?

So I was Optus customer

porting over to Telstra.

Something like the story goes for ages

but just to cut it down short

porting over from Optus

Telstra somehow something went wrong

they lost my port, cancelled it somehow

and now my number has gone missing.

Now, yeah.

Wait, so you get transferred

and now you don't have your number?

Correct.

So Optus have said that they've

successfully made the port

they don't have it no more

Telstra for some reason had lost it

and now they're giving me the excuse

of because my number was originally

a Vodafone number

which I got when I was still in high

school 30 years ago

that the number has gone back to Vodafone.

Wait, what?

Yeah, never.

Now I'm not a Vodafone customer

I haven't been a customer for 30 years

in their defense a Vodafone has been great

they're trying to help me

they're trying to sort it out

but they've pretty much

it's all finger pointing now.

No, okay, so let me just backtrack here.

Optus, you were with Optus

you decided to move to Telstra

as far as you could see the port was successful

did you ever get an active connection with Telstra?

No, so my phone was like coming on and off of 5G

so I went to the Telstra store to say

hey I've activated my eSIM

the reception's turning on and off

don't know what the issue is

but they said yep

here's a temporary SIM card

so they gave me just a random number off the shelf

yes

that here you have this

so you've got some way to contact anyone

of course

but give us 24 to 48 hours

we'll sort it out

and then that was five weeks ago

at some point along the way

you found out that it's gone back to a Vodafone?

Correct

Who told you that?

Telstra or Optus?

Telstra, I've got emails from Telstra

saying it's with Vodafone

Holy wow

and you haven't been a Vodafone customer for how long?

Early 2000s

I would have been like just out maybe high school

I'm 40 years old now

Early 2000s

So yeah

and the port's successful

did Telstra have a record of the phone coming to them?

Yeah, yeah Telstra had it

because I transferred my wife's phone

and my phone at the same time

my wife's went through

no issue

mine had issues

Anything different?

Like did you do eSIM and she didn't

or anything weird like that?

She did get a physical SIM

The only reason I went eSIM

is because I was going to Adelaide for the weekend

and thought I could get it in time

Obviously not

But I'm sure like so many people have eSIMs

I doubt that could have been any sort of issue

But the problem isn't more the technical side

like if something went wrong

it went wrong

Yeah, things got wrong

But now you have no essential recourse

You're struggling to have ownership of that number

So Telstra's all the thing that

and here's the thing that I've realised

as time goes by

all my accounts are two-factor authentication

So I couldn't lock into my banks

I couldn't log into my insurance

Of course you've done the right thing

but now you're screwed

Correct

Yeah, so I'll had to go to the bank

change my mobile number

change my stuff online

Plus it's my work phone as well

So I haven't had any work phone calls

in five weeks

It's coming up to Christmas

It's supposed to be the busiest time of the year

I'm a electrician

and pretty much

Telstra has pretty much

they sent me an email saying

we told you to a phone

if you don't like it

contact ACMA

which I have

contact the TIO

the ombudsman

which I have

but they're so inundated

there are

Of course they're not going to get to you for months mate

They are not getting to me for 10 weeks

So you've got a physical record from Telstra

Have you had any communication with Vodafone

because that would be hard

you're not a customer

I not only

do you know what I had to do

I signed up as a customer

up to a month to month plan

I signed up

gave them all my details

yeah

so I could

and I give them credit

they're very helpful

they've done so much for me

for not being a customer

I actually had a lady ringing me

from overseas

she I asked her

she's in India

she rang me every day

for a week and a half

just to find out how the case is going

because she was so invested

in what was going on

and obviously no resolution

no resolution

so like the latest update

I was with the

on the phone of Telstra yesterday

because that's another thing

Telstra never call you

you have to call them

okay mate

um this is unbelievable

unbelievable

like a port gone wrong

I get it

you get it

it's life

but a port gone wrong

going back to your old talk

over 25 years

is wild

and I can imagine the buck passing

and again

I'm not defending them

but I can also imagine

the hands in the air

this is not part of the playbook

of customer support

but that's why

there has to be escalation

there has to be an escalation here

by the way

does Optus say anything

so Optus also

very helpful

they pretty much

can just look at their system

and say that your number

has successfully gone to Telstra

okay

I actually contacted them

about the

because it goes

there's a quarantine register

so if something goes wrong

this is how much I've

researched I've done

the numbers supposed to go into a

oh so it doesn't get given to someone else

correct

there's six months before

they can give it to anyone else

so Optus has checked that register

with them

and they've sent me an email

to confirm that

they don't have it

but it's not at the quarantine

it's not with Optus

Telstra is saying it's with voter

voters saying it's with Telstra

Optus is saying we don't have it

it's just nothing

I've got nothing

all right

um

I'm going to get producer Rob

to send you an email address

I need you to send me

the the copies of things

a couple of things

well I mean I don't want to

I don't want everything

because it sounds like you've got

several binders of stuff

but you know

critically your key detail

so in the

in the this is how

just to paint the picture for people

right now

I'm like I want to help

I can't help though

because I can't do anything

but all I can do is

I can refer your case

to a couple of people

right now

I'll refer it to Telstra

and I'll also make sure that

bosses at Vodafone know about it

even though they have

apparently been very helpful

just so that

because it's going to come back on

them shortly at some point

so

what I need in

in the in the body of the email

is really just your name

your your phone number

the new phone number

that you're acting on temporarily

account numbers

anything you can remember

anything in kind of

dot form

and in a couple of dates

you know

this happened then

and then

a copy or PDF of the email

you got from Telstra

that kind of brushed you off

I definitely want to see that

and then anything about

the Vodafone conversations

and then let's just

I'm going to send it straight to

Telstra's

you know

the the

as far up the retainers

I can get at Telstra

and see if they can put it

to an escalation team

who can do a bit of an

investigation

and then I'll just CC

and make sure Vodafone

are aware of it

because I figure at some point

technically

they're probably the owner

of the number

and need to do something with it

but we

we feel like we don't

we feel like no one owns it

right now

even though the record shows Vodafone

yeah

no one even knows where it is

have you rung it

but I appreciate it Trevor

thank you

have you rung your number

I have nothing happens

it just like

it's like it's not connected

wouldn't it be wild if it's like

hey bro

and you're like

when did you get this number

he's like I just got it

I'm just on you know

Cogan mobile

oh god I couldn't

no I appreciate it Trevor

thank you very much

wow

all right

we'll get you an email address

to shoot that details too

all right

easy

appreciate it mate

have a good day

good luck cheers

we'll see what we can do

for you cheers mate

I don't know what to say

other than that is the wildest

story of

simporting gone wrong

I've ever ever heard

we will continue this

investigation

here on EFTM

that's going to be tough

but we will we'll do

absolutely darn us to push

for the right people

to look into that

this is the EFTM podcast

all right well thank you for

listening thank you to

everyone who got involved

and we'll try and help

those people out

who are having problems

I mean we got to find a solution

to that telco number

is she right

that is wild stuff

wild stuff

I'm desperate to know

what happens with that

so we'll uh

we'll get to the bottom

that one as quick as we can

yeah we'll see what happens

thanks for listening

we'll be back next week

with another episode

of the EFTM podcast

helping Australians

with tech questions

for over 15 years

the EFTM podcast

will travel on

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