Facebook buys Boston software company that authenticates IDs

Getty Images | Bloomberg

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., waves after the morning session during the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Thursday, July 13, 2017.

Facebook is buying Boston-based software company Confirm, which specializes in authenticating government-issued identification cards, a person familiar with the acquisition said on Tuesday.

Confirm, which says on its website that it has more than 750 clients, will wind down its operations and its employees will join Facebook in Boston, the source said.

Terms of the deal and how Facebook would apply Confirm’s software were not immediately known. Facebook has previously said it would step up plans to verify the identities of people who purchase election-related ads on its social network.