To be suspicious of Facebook's motivation for verifying my identity?

[HopLittleBunny]

Yes yes, FB is the devil's own toe jam etc, but I have friends and family all over the world so its convenient.

I logged in to my FB this morning perfectly fine, then got texts from friends over lunch saying my account was down. Again. FB won't let me log in until I can 'verify' who I am. To get acceptable verification, FB would need to receive a jpeg of official ID which would also tell them my address, NI number, NHS number or bank account details.

Apparently this is being done to better enable my friends to find me. AIBU to suggest this is a crock of shit and FB actually just want as many of my details as possible to sell on, and to think my inbox and letter box are both going to see a massive surge in spam in the very near future?

YANBU. But this is a general thing. Facebook is just a part of the wider system that's tracking us all, all the time.

www.thenewamerican.com/tech/computers/item/7224-after-bilderberg-meeting-facebook-official-says-end-internet-anonymity

I don't think it's a scam tbh. I've heard of this happening to transgender people who haven't officially changed their name yet (but are using new name on a day to day basis and on social media etc).

Like pp have said, if FB don't think your name is legit they'll ask you to prove it. Pain in the arse.

I'd just set up a new account if I were you, it'll be easier and less intrusive.

I only get asked to verify my account when my ex logs in and I have to change password.
Someone is logging in.

it's not a scam.

set up your fb with your real name and just tighten your security so no one can search for you via mobile or email and only friends of friends can friend you. there's lots you can do to be secure

there's lots you can do to be secure

Hmm, depends who you want to be secure from....

If Call Me Dave and his mob have their way, this is the future. No anonymous access to the web. No hiding behind nicknames. Just a government-approved identify to use with his best mates at Facebook Towers and the Chocolate Factory.

(See also "Jacqui Smith: We will require paedophiles to register their email addresses, c. 2008).

Lurking - see also Andy Burnham and Charlie Clarkes ID cards - you're allowed one ID for everything and the government will take "care" of it for you and charge for for it.

Facebook do genuinely ask people to use their real names. They don't usually do anything about it unless someone reports the account, but they do ask for verification if they are reported.

There was a big thing last year where a conservative Christian group in the U.S. was reporting drag queens and FB was deleting them.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/17/facebook-still-freezing-accounts-despite-apology-drag-queens-real-names

I know several friends of mine who were involved with that, they did have to send ID, I believe a copy of their passport. But never anything like NI nos or bank details. That sounds like a scam.

Yanbu OP - I'd be highly suspicious. I have had a facebook account with a fairly obviously made up name for 7+ years and they've never bugged me about it.

Btw if they ever ask for any of this crap from me, that'll be the end of my life on Facebook.

Lurking - see also Andy Burnham and Charlie Clarkes ID cards

The funniest fall out of that (quietly hidden on Google) was the dreadful (and still around) Meg Hillier, who appeared in the press signing up ahead of time for the ID card. The problem is that the way the law was written, once you had an ID card, you couldn't use anything else for ID.

Luckily the law was changed quickly. Something we can thank the coalition for.

www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/02/id_death/

www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/08/id_card_numbers/

Seriously?

I consider myself a little bit dimwitted, but you're seriously asking if you should or should not login into an online account after first providing your bank account, address and national insurance number amongst other things...

No wonder hacking is so easy nowadays

A picture of your ID containing all of them details will NOT be from FB!
If they asked everyone to do that, then there would be loads of FB minions going through all of these different pictures from people just to verify a dumb FB page. I don't think so.

The only thing on my FB is my name, DOB and email. I don't even have a smartphone because I don't trust all that stuff - they can hack your contacts and everything on your phone I've heard. Every site you log into can trace everything you're doing on your phone, maybe to a certain extent, it's still weird!

OP I has this. I had a shared account with my DH (I know people on MN hate them but we used it as a free way to contact family abroad).

We refused to upload the info & set up new accounts. I got friends to check and 2 weeks after our old account was deactivated by fb no one could see anything.

If you have any photos etc that are only on your fb copy them NOW. We were locked out of our old fb with no warning. We had some lovely pics of the DCs when they were tiny that we have lost :(

I consider myself a little bit dimwitted, but you're seriously asking if you should or should not login into an online account after first providing your bank account, address and national insurance number amongst other things...

Well, Facebook hasn't asked for bank account details, nor a national insurance number, and they specifically state you should cover up anything like that in what you send them.

Your address is hardly private information.

A picture of your ID containing all of them details will NOT be from FB!
If they asked everyone to do that, then there would be loads of FB minions going through all of these different pictures from people just to verify a dumb FB page. I don't think so.

It IS from Facebook. They don't ask everyone to do it, they ask a small number of people to.

It's really simple: if you want to use Facebook's free service, and they don't believe you are using your real name, they ask you to prove it. You don't have to send any financial or highly personal information. You can choose not to do it, and stop using the website.

And if you're using Facebook, or anything similar, to store your photographs then you're crazy anyway and have no right to complain if you lose them.

Is it possible that someone has reported you as having a false ID? This happened to a friend of mine - who was also stalked incidentally - the person found her and reported the fake name. She obviously couldn't prove it so they shut down her account with no right of appeal.
They're fuckers but it's their playground....

I seem to remember a while ago there was some new legislation somewhere (US maybe) which meant Facebook were clamping down on fake IDs. I remember as I work in an environment where people often use fake names to protect their identity and this was going to be a problem for them. Very irritating!

I would refuse to provide that.

My Facebook is set up so that it asks for a text code every time I login from a new browser. It would be difficult to hack - you'd need my password and my phone.

^It IS from Facebook. They don't ask everyone to do it, they ask a small number of people to.

It's really simple: if you want to use Facebook's free service, and they don't believe you are using your real name, they ask you to prove it. You don't have to send any financial or highly personal information. You can choose not to do it, and stop using the website.^

Wow, that's pretty "serious" just for a FB!
Who even has the authority to say your name isn't real? How do they know, or even care? It's stupid, to be honest. I don't get it. There are some people that don't think to edit their bank card details before posting a picture of it because it has Hello Kitty on or something and want to show it!

...and that's why I don't store photos on technology, I print them :/