When you enroll in the verified track for a course, you must use a webcam to take a photograph of yourself and of a photo ID that has your photo and full name on the same side.
You do not have to verify your identity immediately, but you must do so before the course ID verification deadline. The deadline appears below the name of the course on your dashboard.
To verify your identity, you use a webcam to take a photo of yourself and of a photo ID that has your photo and full name on the same side. EdX encrypts your photos and uses the highest levels of security available to protect your data.
- Preparing to Verify Your Identity
- Verify Your Identity
- Check Your ID Verification Status
- Troubleshooting the Identity Verification Process
When you verify your identity, that verification is effective for one year, for all courses. If you enroll in the verified track for another course, you pay for that course’s certificate, but you do not have to verify your identify again.
Note: If you enroll in a course that offers academic credit, you might have to verify your identity periodically during the course. For more information, see Taking a Course for Academic Credit.
Preparing to verify your identity
When you enroll in the verified track for a course, you must use a webcam to take a photograph of yourself and of a photo ID that has your photo and name on the same side. Before you begin the identity verification process, follow these recommendations to make the process as straightforward as possible.
- Make sure that you have access to a webcam.
If your computer does not have a webcam, edX recommends that you find out if your local library has a webcam that you can use, or that you borrow a friend’s webcam. If you have a smartphone that has a camera, you can also verify your identity by visiting the following page in the smartphone’s browser.
https://courses.edx.org/verify_student/reverify
You can sign in to one computer or smartphone to verify your identity, and then sign in to the computer that you typically use to complete the course. If you do not use a webcam to verify your identity, you cannot receive a verified certificate. - Compare the name on your photo ID card to the full name you use in your edX account. Both names must match, including the type of characters used (Roman or non-Roman), accented characters, initials, and spelling.
If necessary, you can update your edX account name at any time on the edX account settings page. You also have the opportunity to change your edX account name during the identity verification process. - Make sure that your name is legible, and that your name and photo are visible together on the same side of the card.
If your name and your photo are on two different pages, or on the front and back of a single page, you can copy both pages onto a single piece of paper. Make sure that your name is legible in the copy. - Make sure that you can adjust the lighting for the photographs.
For the webcam to focus, there needs to be enough light on your face and your ID. You might need to change the position or brightness of a lamp, or change your position, to improve the lighting for the photographs.
Verify your identity
To verify your identity, follow these steps.
- Make sure that you have a webcam and a photo ID available.
- Start the verification process by completing one of the following actions.
- If you have not yet enrolled in the course, enroll in the verified track, submit your payment information, and then select Verify Now on the payment confirmation page.
- If you enrolled in the audit track of the course, upgrade to the verified track.
- If you enrolled in the verified track and submitted payment but you have not yet verified your identity, on your dashboard of courses select Verify Now next to the course.
- At the top of your browser window, a message asks you to share the camera with edx.org. To see and respond to this message every time you take or retake a photograph for the verification process, select Share Selected Device. To share the webcam throughout the process select Always Share.
- On the Take Your Photo page, select the camera icon to take a photo of your face.
For information about how to take a good photo, review the To take a successful photo guidelines beside your image. - Review your photo to make sure that it is well-lit and fills the available space.
- If you are not satisfied with the photo, select Retake Photo.
- When you are satisfied with the photo, select Next: Take a photo of your ID.
- On the Take a Photo of Your ID page, hold your photo ID up to the webcam on your computer. Make sure that the image of your ID is legible, and then select the camera icon to take a photo of your ID.
- Review the photo of your ID to make sure that it is well-lit and fills the available space.
- If you are not satisfied with the photo, select Retake Photo.
- When you are satisfied with the photo, select Next: Review your Info.
- On the Review Your Photos page, review the photos of your face and of your ID. Make sure that the photos meet all of the requirements listed under Photo requirements.
If the name on your ID is different from your edX account name, select Edit Your Name. You must edit your edX account name to exactly match the name on your ID. For example, if your ID shows your name in Chinese characters, but your edX account name appears in Roman characters, you must update your edX account name to match the name on your ID. - After you make sure that your photos meet all of the requirements listed under Photo requirements select Confirm.
A message confirms that you have submitted your photos.
After edX’s authorization service examines your photos, a message on your dashboard informs you whether the verification process was successful. If the verification process was not successful, you must submit new verification photos. You can begin the verification process again by selecting Verify Your Identity.
Check your ID verification status
If you have enrolled in the verified certificate track for a course, your dashboard provides the status of your ID verification.
On your dashboard, locate the course.
Your ID verification status appears with the course image for that course. For more information, see Verifying Your Identity.
Troubleshooting the identify verification process
If you have a problem during the identity verification process, these suggestions might help you find a resolution.
- Make sure that you are using a supported browser. You can also switch from one browser, such as Internet Explorer or Safari, to another browser, such as Firefox or Chrome.
- To take photographs, the webcam uses Adobe Flash Player. You might need to install this application or update to the latest version.