Facebook asking locked out users to provide Government ID
If you have opened Twitter today you may have noticed an increase in messages reporting that the social media site Facebook was asking them to provide a Government ID to unlock their account on the site.
The message that users received during log in to their Facebook account states the following: "For security reasons your account is temporarily locked. If this account reflects your real name and personal information, please help us verify it".
The user who has been temporarily locked out of the account is then asked to provide a government ID for verification.
Facebook itself has not published a public comment yet and it is unclear if the company will address the issue at all.
Facebook Government ID
Facebook's Help page provides further information about the practice:
If you can't verify your account using your mobile number, you'll need to provide a copy of your photo ID. This could be a scanned copy or a close-up photo you've taken.
Upload a photo ID
How to upload your ID
- Optional: Cover up any confidential information (ex: license or passport number)
- Scan or take a picture of your ID with your digital camera
- Make sure you can clearly see your name, birthday and photo
- Save the photo to your desktop
- Click the button below and follow the instructions to upload your ID
This is my government issued ID. I understand I won't get help with my account if I haven't uploaded a valid ID.
The very same page lists the types of IDs that Facebook accepts:
- Birth certificate
- Driver's license
- Passport
- Marriage certificate
- Official Name change paperwork
- Personal or vehicle insurance card
- Non-driver's government ID
- Green card, residence permit or immigration papers
- Social Security Card
- Voter ID Card
In addition, Facebook will also accept any of the two following items that must show the name and date of birth of the locked out Facebook user.
- Bank statement
- Bus card
- Check
- Credit Card
- Employment verification
- Library card
- Magazine subscription stub
- Medical record
- Membership IDs
- Paycheck stub
- Permit
- School card
- School record
- Utility bill
- Yearbook photo
The company notes that data that has been uploaded to Facebook as part of the verification process will be deleted after the verification.
The mass lock-out of users is not the first on Facebook. The most recent lock-out that requested users to provide Facebook with IDs to unlock the account again happened in January of this year. The company back then stated that it may ask users for photo IDs depending on the violation that occurred.
Common violations where this may be the case are accounts where either the name or birth date do not match or exist at all (for instance if a nickname is being used), and maybe also at times to verify account ownership after a hacking attempt.
The only two options that locked out Facebook users have is to either comply with the request and transfer a picture of a photo ID to Facebook, or stop using the site altogether.
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Martin, I would appreciate that you do not censor this post, as it’s informative writing.
Onur, there is a misleading statement “[…] GIFs are animated images …”. No, obviously you don’t seem to have take much notice of what you were told back in March regarding; Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).
For example, https://www.ghacks.net/2023/03/31/whats-gif-explanation-and-how-to-use-it/#comment-4562919 (if you had read my replies within that thread, you might have learnt something useful). I even mentioned, “GIF intrinsically supports animated images (GIF89a)”.
You linked to said article, [Related: …] within this article, but have somehow failed to take onboard what support you were given by several more knowledgeable people.
If you used AI to help write this article, it has failed miserably.
AI is stupid, and it will not get any better if we really know how this all works. Prove me wrong.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYl1sTIOHI
Martin, [#comment-4569908] is only meant to be in: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/07/09/how-to-send-gifs-on-iphone-two-different-ways/]. Whereas it appears duplicated in several recent random low-quality non relevant articles.
Obviously it [#comment-4569908] was posted: 9 July 2023. Long before this thread even existed… your database is falling over. Those comments are supposed to have unique ID values. It shouldn’t be possible to duplicate the post ID, if the database had referential integrity.
Don’t tell me!
Ghacks wants the state to step in for STATE-MANDATED associations to save jobs!!!
Bring in the dictatorship!!!
And screw Rreedom of Association – too radical for Ghacks maybe
GateKeeper ?
That’s called “appointing” businesses to do the state’s dirty work!!!!!
But the article says itself that those appointed were not happy – implying they had not choice!!!!!!
@The Dark Lady,
@KeZa,
@Database failure,
@Howard Pearce,
@Howard Allan Pearce,
Note: I replaced the quoted URI scheme: https:// with “>>” and posted.
The current ghacks.net is owned by “Softonic International S.A.” (sold by Martin in October 2019), and due to the fate of M&A, ghacks.net has changed in quality.
>> ghacks.net/2023/09/02/microsoft-is-removing-wordpad-from-windows/#comment-4573130
Many Authors of bloggers and advertisers certified by Softonic have joined the site, and the site is full of articles aimed at advertising and clickbait.
>> ghacks.net/2023/08/31/in-windows-11-the-line-between-legitimate-and-adware-becomes-increasingly-blurred/#comment-4573117
As it stands, except for articles by Martin Brinkmann, Mike Turcotte, and Ashwin, they are low quality, unhelpful, and even vicious. It is better not to read those articles.
How to display only articles by a specific author:
Added line to My filters in uBlock Origin: ghacks.net##.hentry,.home-posts,.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Mike Turcotte|Ashwin/))
>> ghacks.net/2023/09/01/windows-11-development-overview-of-the-august-2023-changes/#comment-4573033
By the way, if you use an RSS reader, you can track exactly where your comments are (I’m an iPad user, so I use “Feedly Classic”, but for Windows I prefer the desktop app “RSS Guard”).
RSS Guard: Feed reader which supports RSS/ATOM/JSON and many web-based feed services.
>> github.com/martinrotter/rssguard#readme
We all live in digital surveillance glass houses under scrutiny of evil people because of people like Musk. It’s only fair that he takes his turn.
“Operating systems will be required to let the user choose the browser, virtual assistant and search engine of their choice. Microsoft cannot force users to use Bing or Edge. Apple will have to open up its iOS operating system to allow third-party app stores, aka allow sideloading of apps. Google, on the other hand, will need to provide users with the ability to uninstall preloaded apps (bloatware) from Android devices. Online services will need to allow users to unsubscribe from their platform easily. Gatekeepers need to provide interoperability with third-parties that offer similar services.”
Wonderful ! Let’s hope they’ll comply with that law more than they are doing with the GDPR.