Before your storefront unlocks publicly, Lewdden asks you to complete a one-time identity check. This article walks you through what the check actually does, what we keep, what we don’t, and what the live status badge on your verification page is telling you. Its companion is My verification failed — what to do.
1) Where the check lives
Sign in, open the storefront sidebar, click Verification. The full URL is:
https://staging.lewdden.com/store-manager/verification/
The page is open as soon as your account exists. You can come back to it as often as you like — until it shows a green Approved badge, your storefront stays gated.
2) What the check actually does
The verification flow is run by an independent identity-verification provider integrated with the platform. In one short session it does six things, all listed on the page itself under the heading “Why we use [the identity-verification provider] during onboarding”:
- Age check. Confirms you are an adult (18+). This is the floor for creator access on Lewdden — every country we support has at least an 18+ requirement, and several have higher local floors (see Age verification — why we ask, what we keep).
- Fraud protection. Reduces identity misuse, fake accounts, and payout fraud.
- Identity match. Compares your government-issued ID document to a live selfie flow to confirm you are a real person and that the ID belongs to you.
- One-time onboarding check. The session runs once at sign-up. After it’s approved you don’t have to repeat it; we just keep the result attached to your application.
- Privacy. Lewdden itself stores the verification result plus your first and last name on the application record. The full document images and biometric data are handled by the provider, not stored on the Lewdden side.
- Safer community. Every creator going through the same gate creates more trust and safety for buyers and fellow creators.
3) What we collect from you during the session
The provider’s flow walks you through three things in the browser (or the in-app experience if you switch to a phone):
- One government-issued ID document. Passport, national ID card, residence permit, or driving licence — the provider supports documents from most countries. You’ll be asked to photograph the front and (where applicable) the back.
- A short live selfie. A few seconds of your face from different angles, taken with the device camera. This is matched against the photo on your ID.
- Your given name and last name — pre-filled from the small form Lewdden shows above the launcher (“Given name” + “Last name” + Start verification button). You can correct them before launching.
That’s it. No tax number, no address proof, no bank account number — those belong to the Partner-ID setup later (see Setting up your Partner-ID).
4) What Lewdden itself stores
On the Lewdden side, only the minimum needed to record that the check happened:
- Verification status — one of the eleven values listed in §6.
- Your first and last name — for the application record so a human reviewer can match you to the result. (These are also the values pre-filled on the launcher.)
- A timestamp for the most recent decision update.
The actual document images, the selfie video, the device fingerprint, and any biometric vectors live with the verification provider — not on the Lewdden database. The provider’s own retention policy applies to those.
5) The live status badge
The top of the verification page shows a coloured badge that updates in real time. As soon as a decision is reached, the page polls every few seconds and the badge flips. The 11 possible states are:
- Not started — you’ve never opened a session. The launcher form is visible. This is the default before you click anything.
- Started — a session has been created and you’re partway through the flow (taking photos, recording the selfie). If you close the window mid-flow, the status stays here briefly.
- Submitted — you finished your part of the flow and the provider has the materials.
- In review — the provider is checking your submission. Most decisions land within minutes; complex cases can take a few hours.
- Approved ✓ — green badge. You’re done. The launcher form is hidden, your public storefront unlocks, and the rest of onboarding (Partner-ID, IBAN) becomes the next step.
- Declined — the provider returned a “no” decision. See My verification failed — what to do.
- Resubmission requested — the provider needs you to retry, usually because a photo was unclear or the selfie didn’t match. Open a fresh session from the same page.
- Expired — a session that wasn’t completed in time. Start a new one.
- Abandoned — you closed the window without finishing and didn’t come back in time. Start a new one.
- Canceled — you tapped Cancel inside the flow. Start a new one when ready.
- Error — a technical glitch on the provider’s side or yours (camera blocked, network drop). Start a new session; if it happens twice in a row, contact support.
The note under the launcher says it plainly: “If [the provider] asks for another try, you can start a fresh session here again.” The Start verification button stays available in every state except Approved.
6) Privacy and retention
- What Lewdden keeps: the status string, your first and last name, the latest decision timestamp.
- What the verification provider keeps: the document images, the selfie video, audit logs of the session — for the period required by their own retention policy and applicable EU/AML regulations (typically several years for AML compliance).
- What is shared with anyone else: nothing on the public side. Buyers, other creators, and search engines see only that your storefront is unlocked — never the underlying ID details.
- Your rights: you can request a copy of the verification status and supporting record we hold via support. For the document/selfie copies, contact the verification provider directly with your session reference.
For the wider data picture, see Your data on Lewdden.
7) How long the whole thing takes
- Your active time: 2–5 minutes. ID photos, a short selfie, done.
- Decision time: usually under 2 minutes for clear-cut cases; up to a few hours when manual review is involved.
- Total elapsed: most creators land on Approved the same hour they start.
You don’t have to keep the page open while it’s In review — the badge updates the next time you load it, and the storefront unlocks automatically when the decision flips to approved. (See the email you’ll get on the day your application is fully ready.)
8) What unlocks once you’re Approved
- Your public storefront page. Buyers can find you in search and on browse listings.
- Live streaming. The pre-flight checklist (How to go live — pre-flight checklist) lights up.
- Clip uploads + sales. Including FTP bulk upload (Bulk-uploading a back catalogue via FTP).
- Subscriptions. Subscribers can subscribe to your storefront.
Payouts themselves still wait for a validated Partner-ID — verification approval and Partner-ID validation are two separate gates. See Setting up your Partner-ID.
9) FAQ
Q: Do I have to do this on a phone?
No — desktop works. The flow runs in a small in-page frame on the verification page itself. If you want to switch to a phone partway through, the provider gives you a QR code so you can hand the camera step over to a mobile device and pick up where you left off.
Q: Which ID documents are accepted?
The provider supports documents from most countries: passports, national ID cards, residence permits, and driving licences (where the country of issue allows them for identity verification). If your country isn’t immediately listed, start the flow anyway — the picker often surfaces additional document types once you select your country.
Q: I have a stage name. Whose name do I put in the Given name / Last name fields?
Your real legal name as it appears on the ID you’ll show. The provider checks the photo of the ID against the names you submit. Your stage name lives in your storefront profile (see Customising your store) and never has to match.
Q: I’m under 18 in some way (close to a birthday, edge case). Will it pass?
The check uses the date of birth on your ID. If the ID shows you’re 17 even by a day, the answer is no — finish the flow and we’ll see you back here once your ID confirms 18+.
Q: Will my buyers see my ID?
No. Buyers see only your storefront name, banner, and content. The ID + selfie are never displayed publicly and are not stored on the Lewdden side.
Q: I closed the tab in the middle of the session. Did I lose anything?
No. Just open the verification page again — the launcher form is back, and you can Start verification from scratch. Sessions don’t double-charge anything; only one needs to land in Approved.
Q: What if the provider’s site is down?
The status badge will show Error if the launch fails. Wait a few minutes and try again. If it persists for more than 30 minutes, open a ticket under the Verification & onboarding support category at Contacting support.
Need more help
If your session keeps landing on Declined, Resubmission requested, or Error, head to the companion article: My verification failed — what to do. For everything else, open a ticket under Verification & onboarding at Contacting support with the status badge you’re stuck on and the timestamp of your last attempt.
