We’re excited to share the latest developments from the PHACKS (Platform for High Assurance Collaborative Knowledge Sharing) project—an ambitious ECCC-backed initiative led by Sedicii. PHACKS is making strong progress across all core areas, with real momentum building within its six active collaborative communities and growing interest from stakeholders across Europe.
Six Collaborative Communities Now Active
PHACKS is designed to enable organisations to validate sensitive data attributes—such as age, address, or IBAN—against authoritative sources, without exposing the underlying data. This year, we’ve seen tangible traction in each of our six initial collaborative communities, which focus on:
- Address verification for pensions, insurance, banks, logistics and company registration
- Affordability income tax checks for gambling
- Age verification for retail and online services
- IBAN verification for consumers and SMEs
- Other AML services for payment systems
- Cybersecurity for threat data validation
These communities are engaging a diverse mix of sectors—including banking, pensions, insurance and legal services. For example, banks are now internally preparing to participate in address and affordability checks, while multiple pension and insurance providers are engaging with Sedicii for address and AML verifications. Sector-specific discussions are progressing well, with onboarding and testing expected in the months ahead.
We are partnering with PTSB in the Central Bank of Ireland’s inaugural Innovation Sandbox Programme for the first address verification service in Ireland. The Innovation Sandbox is a pioneering initiative designed to foster groundbreaking solutions for combatting financial crime. We are also laying the groundwork for future communities with engagement timelines extending through to early 2026.
Cross-Border Expansion and Sector Participation
PHACKS is gaining international attention. In 2024, we focused our efforts in Ireland and Spain, with organisations in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal preparing to participate later this year. We anticipate further expansion in 2026 into Austria, Estonia, Sweden and other interested EU member states.
Key to the project’s success is the availability and accessibility of authoritative data sources—the backbone for trustworthy data validation. However, gaining access to these sources is a challenge across some individual EU Member States. While some national bodies are assisting with engagement, others face internal issues especially with regards to legacy data quality and outdated policy constraints.
In response, PHACKS is prioritising collaboration with governments and EU institutions. We’ve opened a dialogue with Ireland’s Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regarding secure access to government data. In parallel, we’re working closely with the European Commission on a privacy-preserving IBAN verification service, which could significantly reduce fraud risk and streamline KYC processes across the continent.
Call for Participation
PHACKS is moving closer to becoming a critical enabler for secure, cross-border data collaboration in the EU. The project is proving that together, privacy and compliance, provide for an increasing number of opportunities for collaboration and growth. Many of these opportunities are synergistic and involve reusing existing capabilities in new ways.
Those already participating, and including governments, want to see more participation and reuse across multiple sectors. We are reaching out to new sectors across EU member states. Contact Us to learn more and get involved!