Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about SevisPNG, SevisPass, SevisWallet, and the ecosystem.
General
What is SevisPNG?
SevisPNG is Papua New Guinea's national digital identity ecosystem. It provides citizens with secure, portable digital identity (SevisPass), a digital wallet (SevisWallet), payment services (SevisPay), and secure data exchange (SevisDEx)—all governed by DICT.
Who governs SevisPNG?
SevisPNG is governed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which sets the trust framework, legal policies, commercial rules, and technical standards for the ecosystem.
Is SevisPNG mandatory?
SevisPNG is not mandatory, but having a SevisPass may be required for certain government services and can make accessing services from participating organizations easier and faster.
What standards does SevisPNG use?
SevisPNG is built on open international standards including W3C Verifiable Credentials, W3C DIDs, SD-JWT for selective disclosure, DIDComm v2 for messaging, and OIDC4VCI/VP for credential issuance and presentation.
SevisPass
What is SevisPass?
SevisPass is your digital identity credential. It's a verifiable credential stored in your SevisWallet that proves your identity to organizations and services. SevisPass has four tiers of trust, from foundational to continuous.
How do I get a SevisPass?
Download SevisWallet from Google Play or App Store, create an account by providing basic information, complete biometric capture (face and fingerprints), and receive your Tier 1 SevisPass. You can upgrade to higher tiers by completing additional verification.
What are the different SevisPass tiers?
Tier 1 (Foundational): Self-attested with biometric deduplication. Tier 2 (Verified): Document-verified against data anchors. Tier 3 (Multi-Anchor): Multiple independent source verification. Tier 4 (Continuous): Living identity with ongoing trust signals.
How do I upgrade my SevisPass tier?
Open SevisWallet and navigate to your SevisPass. Follow the prompts to complete additional verification steps for the next tier. This typically involves document verification and may require visiting an authorized location.
What is selective disclosure?
Selective disclosure lets you share only specific claims from your SevisPass without revealing everything. For example, you can prove you're over 18 without revealing your exact birthdate, or prove your name without sharing your address.
SevisWallet
What is SevisWallet?
SevisWallet is your digital wallet app for storing credentials, managing your identity, making payments, and controlling what data you share. It's available for Android and iOS smartphones.
Is SevisWallet free?
Yes, SevisWallet is free to download and use. There are no fees for storing credentials or basic wallet functions. Transaction fees may apply for certain operations like payments.
Can I use SevisWallet offline?
Yes. Your credentials are stored locally on your device and can be presented even without internet connectivity. Some features like receiving new credentials or making payments require connectivity.
What if I lose my phone?
You can recover your wallet by logging into SevisWallet on a new device using your phone number and password, and/or biometric face scan verification.
What if I don't have a smartphone?
You can visit a registered agent location for in-person assistance with wallet services.
How secure is SevisWallet?
SevisWallet uses multiple security layers: local encrypted storage, biometric authentication (face/fingerprint), PIN backup, secure enclave key storage, and end-to-end encryption for all communications.
Organizations
How can my organization join SevisPNG?
Contact DICT to begin the Relying Party onboarding process. This involves technical assessment, LORA deployment, legacy system integration, sandbox testing, and production go-live.
What is LORA?
LORA (Local Orchestration and Relay Adapter) is the ecosystem adapter that connects your organization's legacy systems to SevisPNG. It handles identity protocols, credential operations, and secure messaging.
What does it cost to become a Relying Party?
Costs include an annual platform access fee (based on organization size), transaction fees (tiered by assurance level), and one-time integration costs. Contact DICT for a customized quote.
Can I issue my own credentials?
Yes. Once onboarded as a Relying Party, you can issue verifiable credentials to citizens. You'll need to use approved credential schemas and follow issuance policies set by DICT.
What systems does LORA integrate with?
LORA can integrate with most existing systems including databases (SQL/NoSQL), ERPs, APIs, and file-based systems. The integration approach is customized based on your technical environment.
Technical
What protocols does SevisPNG use?
SevisPNG uses DIDComm v2 for secure messaging, OIDC4VCI for credential issuance, OIDC4VP for credential presentation, and SD-JWT for selective disclosure in verifiable credentials.
Where is my data stored?
Your credentials are stored locally in SevisWallet on your device, not in a central cloud. SevisTrust maintains registries for DIDs, schemas, and revocation status, but doesn't store your personal credential data.
Is there a developer sandbox?
Yes. Relying Parties have access to a sandbox environment for testing integrations before going to production. Contact DICT for sandbox access.
What APIs are available?
SevisTrust provides APIs for DID resolution, credential schema lookup, revocation status checking, and trust policy queries. LORA provides APIs for workflow execution, credential operations, and legacy system integration.
How is biometric data handled?
Biometric templates (not raw images) are used for verification. The SevisTrust Biometric Engine performs 1:N deduplication to ensure uniqueness and 1:1 verification for authentication. Biometric data is handled per PNG data protection requirements.
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