TruePass Media Alliance has united some of Sri Lanka’s foremost publishers on an innovative shared identity platform, emphasizing trusted audiences, first-party data, and new revenue avenues based on audience engagement.
On September 17, Colombo hosted the official launch of TruePass, a digital identity and authentication platform crafted specifically for the publishing sector in Sri Lanka. This pioneering platform connects a diverse array of publishers through a unified identity layer, representing a crucial advancement in helping local publishers foster stronger, direct, and trustworthy connections with their digital audiences, ultimately generating new value from these interactions.
A key aspect of the launch was the establishment of the TruePass Media Alliance, which includes prominent publishers such as Wijaya Newspapers Limited, HiruNews, Newsfirst, Financial Chronicle, Liberty Media, Virakesari – Express Newspapers Ltd, Papare.lk, Gossip Lanka, and TodayNews.
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The collaboration among these publishers highlights a growing acknowledgment within the industry regarding a previously overlooked component of digital publishing: the necessity for a reliable identity and authentication framework. This framework allows publishers to transcend anonymous audience interactions and cultivate their own first-party relationships. This is the first instance where publishers across Sri Lanka’s Sinhala, Tamil, and English news, sports, and entertainment sectors have unified under a shared identity platform, rather than individually constructing or foregoing such infrastructure.
The Alliance embodies a collective vision for a future in which publishers maintain more direct connections with their readers, gain increased control over first-party data, and establish robust foundations for sustainable digital business models.
TruePass, developed in Sri Lanka, empowers readers to create verified profiles and access platforms of participating publishers through a single authentication process—authenticating once grants access everywhere.
For publishers, the implications extend beyond simplifying the login process. TruePass introduces an identity layer enabling publishers to transform anonymous website visitors into authenticated audiences, thus establishing direct first-party relationships with readers. This transformation lays the groundwork for enhanced personalization, engagement, and new revenue opportunities.
Participating publishers continue to cultivate their own first-party audience relationships, while for readers, TruePass aims to streamline access across different publishers, fostering a more transparent and consent-driven relationship regarding their data.
Readers benefit beyond mere convenience, as recognized and consenting users can enjoy richer, more engaging experiences: customized content, seamless transitions between devices and publications, early or exclusive access, and new formats such as interactive features and member-only content—all governed by the reader’s preferences.
The launch attracted a diverse audience from Sri Lanka’s digital ecosystem, including representatives from the Ministry of Mass Media, GovTech, the Data Protection Authority, ICTA, and FITIS, along with telecommunications partners, notable journalists, advertising agencies, advertisers, and an extensive network of publishers.
This broad participation underscores the increasing significance of digital identity, privacy, first-party data, and trusted audience relationships—not merely as technological concerns, but as vital factors that will shape the future sustainability of Sri Lanka’s media landscape.
Jayomi Lokuliyana, CEO of TruePass and AdStudio.cloud, articulated the vision for TruePass, emphasizing the evolving dynamics among publishers, technology platforms, and audiences. She highlighted the opportunity for Sri Lanka’s publishing sector to assert greater control over its digital trajectory.
“TruePass transcends the creation of yet another login,” she stated. “It is about equipping publishers with the infrastructure necessary to forge direct, trusted relationships with the audiences they serve.”
Lokuliyana further noted, “For years, publishers have devoted efforts to create content that attracts audiences, while much of the identity and commercial value surrounding those audiences has been developed elsewhere. We believe the next chapter of digital publishing will focus on publishers understanding their audiences, nurturing their own first-party relationships, and deriving value from those connections.”
“The convergence of some of Sri Lanka’s leading publishers around this vision is arguably the most significant outcome of this launch. Transforming an industry requires more than technology; it necessitates an ecosystem. What we have introduced is merely the foundation; the future of TruePass will be shaped collaboratively by publishers, readers, and partners,” she added.
Subodha Perera, Director of AdStudio and a technology entrepreneur, showcased the technology and architecture underlying TruePass, detailing the rationale behind the platform’s design and how its identity and authentication frameworks facilitate a connected publisher ecosystem.
The platform currently employs mobile and email verification, establishing a basis upon which publishers can progressively create richer authenticated digital experiences for their audiences.
Providing an international perspective, Daniel Hess, a media and digital industry veteran with over 35 years of experience in various global markets, discussed the vital importance of publishers cultivating direct relationships with users and building consented first-party data. He underscored the opportunity for publishers to enhance their digital sovereignty by retaining greater control over their audience relationships, data, and the commercial value derived from their content.
Hess emphasized the need for a healthier digital ecosystem, where publishers, advertisers, agencies, and supporting partners can generate more value from authenticated, consent-based audiences.
A significant opportunity presented by TruePass is the transition from selling anonymous impressions to monetizing authenticated audiences. With readers recognized—with their consent—across participating publishers, advertisers and agencies can strategize campaigns around defined, privacy-compliant audience segments that span the Alliance’s collective network, rather than purchasing impressions site by site.
For brands, this translates to increased relevance, reduced waste, and enhanced engagement within premium, brand-safe Sri Lankan media environments. For the market, it offers a locally developed alternative to audience targeting, which has predominantly been dictated by global platforms.
Authenticated audiences represent a far more valuable asset for publishers compared to anonymous traffic. Audience-based campaigns enable publishers to command higher premiums for their engaged readers, while participation in a shared network grants each publisher—regardless of size—access to campaign demand at a scale that would otherwise be unattainable.
The same identity framework also supports membership programs, subscriptions, paywalls, and personalized experiences, providing publishers with a broader and more resilient array of digital revenue streams and decreasing their reliance on traffic and advertising value controlled by global platforms.
TruePass aims to redefine how value is recognized throughout the publishing chain. By understanding who their readers are and the depth of their engagement, publishers can appreciate quality journalism based on loyalty and attention rather than mere click volume.
This shift strengthens the case for investing in original reporting, specialized content, and the journalists behind it. For readers, it establishes a relationship founded on trust and consent, recognizing them as valued participants rather than anonymous data points.
While TruePass is initially tailored for the publishing sector, its architecture is not confined to media alone. The same consent-driven identity layer could extend to other data providers such as telecommunications, retail, financial services, and loyalty partners, fostering a broader, privacy-first data ecosystem for Sri Lankan businesses and their advertisers.
Any potential expansion would adhere to the same principles as the platform itself: reader consent, transparency, and control over data usage.
Thus, the launch represented more than just the introduction of a new technological solution. With Sri Lanka’s leading digital publishers uniting through the TruePass Media Alliance, it heralded the commencement of an industry-led initiative to establish the identity and first-party data foundations for the next evolution of Sri Lanka’s digital publishing landscape.
