> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.didit.me/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# South Africa - Criminal Screening by Face

> Screens a facial image against published criminal-record datasets to surface potential matches. Authoritative real-time identity lookup for South Africa. Real-time lookup, pay-per-call.

<div hidden data-didit-db-validation-defaults="{&#x22;issuing_state&#x22;:&#x22;ZAF&#x22;,&#x22;services&#x22;:&#x22;zaf_criminal_face_screening&#x22;,&#x22;consent&#x22;:&#x22;true&#x22;,&#x22;score_level&#x22;:&#x22;standard&#x22;,&#x22;max_matches&#x22;:&#x22;10&#x22;,&#x22;vendor_data&#x22;:&#x22;user-1234&#x22;}" />

Screens a facial image against published criminal-record datasets to surface potential matches. Didit exposes this service through `POST /v3/database-validation/` so you can verify the submitted data against the authoritative source and receive normalized match results.

## Coverage

* **Coverage:** —
* **Country:** South Africa
* **Service ID:** `zaf_criminal_face_screening`
* **Data domain:** Criminal
* **Category:** Criminal

## Inputs

| Field         | Required | Example         |
| ------------- | -------: | --------------- |
| `selfie`      |      Yes | `@./selfie.jpg` |
| `score_level` |       No | `standard`      |
| `max_matches` |       No | `10`            |
| `vendor_data` |       No | `user-1234`     |

* **Required inputs:** `selfie`
* **Optional inputs:** `score_level`, `max_matches`, `vendor_data`
* **Consent:** Required
* **Workflow availability:** Available in workflow
* **Coverage:** —
* **Price:** \$7.00 per successful query

## Body parameters

<ParamField body="issuing_state" type="string" required default="ZAF" placeholder="ZAF">
  ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for this database service.

  Example: `ZAF`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="services" type="string" required default="zaf_criminal_face_screening" placeholder="zaf_criminal_face_screening">
  Array containing this service ID. Pinning the service keeps the request scoped to this exact database.

  Example: `zaf_criminal_face_screening`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="consent" type="boolean" required default="true" placeholder="true">
  Explicit end-user consent for this service.

  Example: `true`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="selfie" type="file" required placeholder="@./selfie.jpg">
  Selfie image file to upload for biometric database validation. Accepted formats: JPEG, PNG, or WebP.

  Example: `@./selfie.jpg`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="score_level" type="string" default="standard" placeholder="standard">
  `score_level` value required by this database service.

  Example: `standard`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="max_matches" type="string" default="10" placeholder="10">
  `max_matches` value required by this database service.

  Example: `10`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="vendor_data" type="string" default="user-1234" placeholder="user-1234">
  Your stable user reference for this person, such as your internal user ID. Didit uses it to link standalone checks to the same end user and reduce duplicate-detection noise.

  Example: `user-1234`
</ParamField>

## Input rules & validation notes

* Send the fields listed above exactly as captured from the user or document.
* Didit validates required fields before calling the database. Requests rejected before source lookup are not charged.

## How to call it

<RequestExample>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl -X POST "https://verification.didit.me/v3/database-validation/" \
    -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
    -F "issuing_state=ZAF" \
    -F "services=zaf_criminal_face_screening" \
    -F "vendor_data=user-1234" \
    -F "consent=true" \
    -F "selfie=@./selfie.jpg"
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  Every successful call returns HTTP `200`. The **`outcome_code`** field tells you what actually happened — distinguishing, for example, a real biometric mismatch (`BIOMETRIC_NO_MATCH`) from a selfie that could not be read (`BIOMETRIC_IMAGE_UNUSABLE`). The `status` shown is the default feature status; your configured [Partial Match / No Match actions](/core-technology/database-validation/database-validation-warnings) can override it.

  **`MATCH`** — The registry confirmed the identity and every checked field matched.

  ```json 200 OK — MATCH theme={null}
  {
    "request_id": "req_01H…",
    "status": "Approved",
    "issuing_state": "ZAF",
    "match_type": "full_match",
    "validations": [
      {
        "outcome_code": "MATCH",
        "service_id": "zaf_criminal_face_screening",
        "service_name": "South Africa - Criminal Screening by Face",
        "source_data": {
          "criminal_matches": "sample_value",
          "face_quality": "sample_value",
          "request_id": "SAMPLE-12345"
        },
        "validation": {
          "identification_number": "full_match"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
  ```

  **`NO_MATCH`** — The registry returned no match for the submitted data.

  ```json 200 OK — NO_MATCH theme={null}
  {
    "request_id": "req_01H…",
    "status": "Declined",
    "issuing_state": "ZAF",
    "match_type": "no_match",
    "validations": [
      {
        "outcome_code": "NO_MATCH",
        "service_id": "zaf_criminal_face_screening",
        "service_name": "South Africa - Criminal Screening by Face",
        "source_data": {
          "identification_number": "NO_MATCH"
        },
        "validation": {
          "identification_number": "no_match"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
  ```

  **`BIOMETRIC_NO_MATCH`** — The face-match score was below the acceptance threshold - the selfie is not the same person as the registry photo.

  ```json 200 OK — BIOMETRIC_NO_MATCH theme={null}
  {
    "request_id": "req_01H…",
    "status": "Declined",
    "issuing_state": "ZAF",
    "match_type": "no_match",
    "validations": [
      {
        "outcome_code": "BIOMETRIC_NO_MATCH",
        "service_id": "zaf_criminal_face_screening",
        "service_name": "South Africa - Criminal Screening by Face",
        "source_data": {
          "identification_number": "NO_MATCH"
        },
        "validation": {
          "identification_number": "no_match"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
  ```

  **`BIOMETRIC_IMAGE_UNUSABLE`** — The selfie could not be processed (empty, no face, low quality, or the registry could not read it). Prompt the user to retake the selfie.

  ```json 200 OK — BIOMETRIC_IMAGE_UNUSABLE theme={null}
  {
    "request_id": "req_01H…",
    "status": "In Review",
    "issuing_state": "ZAF",
    "match_type": "no_match",
    "validations": [
      {
        "outcome_code": "BIOMETRIC_IMAGE_UNUSABLE",
        "service_id": "zaf_criminal_face_screening",
        "service_name": "South Africa - Criminal Screening by Face",
        "source_data": {
          "identification_number": "NO_MATCH"
        },
        "validation": {
          "identification_number": "no_match"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>

## Returned data

The exact fields surfaced in `source_data` depend on what the registry returns. The generated example for `zaf_criminal_face_screening` currently documents this normalized shape:

* `criminal_matches`
* `face_quality`
* `request_id`

## Pricing & SLAs

South Africa - Criminal Screening by Face queries are billed only when Didit receives a conclusive result from the validation source.

* **Per-call price:** \$7.00 USD.
* **Billing:** per successful query. You are not charged when the registry is unreachable, when required fields are missing, or when the request is rejected before reaching the source.
* **Latency:** typical p95 \< 2 s.
* **Availability:** 99.9% per quarter on Didit's side; downstream source availability varies by country and dataset.

## Continue reading

* [South Africa Database Validation overview](/api-reference/database-validation/south-africa)
* [Database Validation overview](/core-technology/database-validation/overview)
* [Outcome Codes](/core-technology/database-validation/database-validation-outcome-codes)