NEW FEATURE: Real-time Security Screening Against International Sanctions and Government Watchlists
In high-stakes environments like ports, chemical plants, and heavy manufacturing sites, perimeter security is about more than just keeping unauthorized visitors out. It is a strict legal and safety duty to ensure that sanctioned, banned, or watchlisted individuals never set foot on your premises.
But there is a major operational loophole at most facility gates: government databases change daily, and it is physically impossible to check them manually.
Relying on manual admin work to cross-reference a contractor's ID against international sanctions lists or federal port bans doesn't work. It either creates massive gatehouse queues, or the checks simply don't happen, leaving your business exposed to severe regulatory liabilities and security threats.
To solve this, we are excited to introduce Screening: an automated, real-time verification engine built directly into the 9ID platform.
The three lines of defense
Rather than running a single, static check, 9ID's AI Security Agent continuously screens contractors, carriers, and visitors at three critical operational phases:
- At registration: The moment a person is registered or their profile is updated, they are instantly verified against active databases.
- Live at the gate: When a visitor scans their QR code to check in, a live check runs against the most current government lists.
- Automatically every night: Because official database sources are refreshed daily, 9ID automatically re-screens everyone on your site overnight to catch any newly added listings immediately.
What we screen against
9ID integrates directly with official, daily-refreshed external databases. Currently, the system runs checks across eight active, high-fidelity sources grouped into two primary categories:
International sanctions and watchlists
Covers financial, trade, and international law-enforcement restrictions:
- EU Financial Sanctions
- UN Security Council
- US Treasury (OFAC SDN)
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
- Belgian FOD Treasury
- INTERPOL Red Notices
- FBI Most Wanted
Port access bans
Covers national maritime port-access bans (havenverbod) directly through a federal data-sharing agreement:
- AIGIS (Belgian Federal Port Ban)
Smart matching, customizable actions
To keep your facility running smoothly, security checks must be both airtight and highly accurate. We designed 9ID's verification engine to prevent false alarms at the gate while giving you complete, customizable control over how matches are handled on-site.
- Smart matching criteria: A name on its own is never enough to trigger a match. To prevent two people who share a name from being confused, 9ID requires a full name together with a date of birth, an email, a phone number, or an ID document number.
- Fuzzy logic: The matching engine automatically accounts for minor typographical errors or swapped first and last names, ensuring individuals cannot bypass security via a simple typo.
- Customizable outcomes: You control how the system reacts to a match. For each category, you can choose to:
- Block access automatically.
- Flag for review, locking the profile and alerting your administration team to manually verify the match before access is granted.
- Turn off specific check types if they do not apply to your facility's operational requirements.
Beyond watchlists: country and age rules
To give your security team complete control over site access, you can configure secondary automated routing rules independently of watchlist screening:
- Nationality restrictions: Automatically deny entry (Country Blocking) or flag for manual review (Country Review) based on the issuing nation of a person's ID document.
- Age controls: Enforce age limits (e.g., verifying that all on-site contractors are at least 18 years old), flagging anyone outside your required range.
See automated screening in action
Documents and credentials can pass verification while a real-time sanctions check still blocks site access. In the example below, Elena Rossi's passport, VCA certificate, and ID photo are verified — but a match against the EU Financial Sanctions database triggers an automatic block before she can enter the site.
Automated Screening is officially live in the 9ID platform. By replacing slow, manual paperwork with automated, real-time database verifications, you can secure your perimeter and eliminate security blind spots without slowing down your operations.
Ready to close your security gap? Book a live demo today to see how 9ID can automate security and streamline access at your facility.
FAQs
How often is the government watchlist data updated?
Our government source data is refreshed daily, ensuring your site security checks always run against the most current lists.
What happens when there is a match against a sanctions list?
Depending on your customized configuration for that category, the matched individual is either blocked from entry automatically or placed in a secure review queue for your team to assess manually.
Can we choose which specific watchlists to screen against?
To maintain absolute security, all active sources are checked together and cannot be toggled on or off individually. However, you can easily customize what action is taken when a match occurs (block, flag for review, or ignore) for each database type.
Why was a person not blocked even though their name appears on a watchlist?
To protect your site from disruptive false matches, a name on its own is never enough to trigger a block. 9ID requires supporting identification data (like a date of birth or ID document number) to verify a true match. Ensure your visitor profile has this data on file to trigger automated screening.
