Why aren't Kenyan IDs returning images for some IDs queried?

In some instances, you'll notice that not all Kenyan IDs queried have an image associated with that particular ID number. This is not an API issue but a gap in the Government ID Authority database.

Our data shows that this happens approximately 20% - 30% of the time.

When a selfie is submitted against an ID number that doesn't have an image within the ID database, our logic is unable to perform a facial comparison. In all these cases, your job will fail.

A workaround is to include a photo of the person's physical ID card in the job. In such a case Smile ID will fall back on this photo to compare against the selfie submitted. Therefore, it is advisable to always ensure that the front facing side of the Kenyan National ID is captured during enrollment along with the selfie and ID number. This image would be compared to the selfie for all cases where the ID database does not return an image for that particular ID queried.

It's important to note that all textual information is returned by the ID database regardless of whether there is a photo or not.

To know whether or not the physical ID card photo was used in the compare you will check the results of the following actions:

{
    "Source": "SDK - STK-L21",
    "Actions":
    {
        "Verify_ID_Number": "Verified",
        "Selfie_To_ID_Authority_Compare": "ID Authority Photo Not Available",
        "Selfie_To_ID_Card_Compare": "Completed",
        ...
    },
    ...