Facebook registration - photo ID required ?

arclight

arclight

Oooh that burglar's a cutie
Messages
11,573
Name
Doug
Edit My Images
Yes
I was previously registered with Facebook, but closed my membership over 5 years ago.

I recently tried to open a new account and was asked to upload a photograph of myself. They said it would be deleted after 30 days.

Any idea what that is all about ?

(I don't intend to post anything, but would like to read posts without being pestered with their pop-ups asking me to register)
 
I just registered a new account and was not prompted/forced to add a photograph of myself.
 
Never heard of needing photo ID before, normally FB just requires an email address to register. You might need a photo for your profile but it doesn't need to be a pic of you.
 
Upload a photo of yourself
Please upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face.
When you send us a photo, we'll check it and then permanently delete it from our servers.

I got the above message when trying to register. I was very suspicious and abandoned the registering process.

A short while later I got an email from Facebook referring to my registration. It contained a link that I should follow to complete the registration. That link led me back to the above message.

Most odd.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
arclight said:
Upload a photo of yourself
Please upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face.
When you send us a photo, we'll check it and then permanently delete it from our servers.

I got the above message when trying to register. I was very suspicious and abandoned the registering process.

A short while later I got an email from Facebook referring to my registration. It contained a link that I should follow to complete the registration. That link led me back to the above message.
Most odd.
Click to expand...
Are you absolutely sure it is Facebook you are registering with?

They don't ask for a picture.

What they do require is: your name, email or mobile phone number, password, date of birth and gender.

https://www.facebook.com/help/345121355559712
 
If everyone had to put selfies as their profile picture it would give others nightmares :exit:
 
kendo1 said:
Are you absolutely sure it is Facebook you are registering with?

They don't ask for a picture.

What they do require is: your name, email or mobile phone number, password, date of birth and gender.

https://www.facebook.com/help/345121355559712
Click to expand...

They asked for that and got it. But that was immediately followed by the message I quoted above. It appeared to be genuine Facebook and Googling the matter brings up reference to pictures being required, but nowhere can I find an explanation as to precisely why a picture is needed.
Alarms bells rang and my first thought was - identity theft.

Bottom line is that they will not, under any circumstance, be getting a picture of me.

Ingrid ......... the picture being requested is not for profile use. That can be a pic of anything.
 
Something is weird.
 
Right if you "close" down your Facebook account and then try and re-open it they will ask you for your ID to prove that you are who you say you are - nothing dubious, nothing underhand, if you do not want to give them your ID then don't, you just will not be able to reactivate that old account.

If you set up a new account, with new details/email address etc., then it will set up as normal with not extra requests for ID
 
fabs said:
What are they going to check against? Something's off.
Click to expand...

I suspect that something dodgy is going on. Think I'll stay clear.


Keith W said:
Right if you "close" down your Facebook account and then try and re-open it they will ask you for your ID to prove that you are who you say you are - nothing dubious, nothing underhand, if you do not want to give them your ID then don't, you just will not be able to reactivate that old account.

If you set up a new account, with new details/email address etc., then it will set up as normal with not extra requests for ID
Click to expand...

Facebook try to guard against that and do not permit anyone to have more than one identity (which they say must be your real identity). If you get caught trying then your bum goes out of the window and they will block you.
 
arclight said:
When you send us a photo, we'll check it and then permanently delete it from our servers..
Click to expand...

Sorry this bit really did make me chuckle... Check it? :)

Too Ugly?
Too round?
Wrong colour?
No beards allowed?
 
Last edited:
arclight said:
I suspect that something dodgy is going on. Think I'll stay clear.




Facebook try to guard against that and do not permit anyone to have more than one identity (which they say must be your real identity). If you get caught trying then your bum goes out of the window and they will block you.
Click to expand...

It isn't just you, I was curious so attempted to sign up and got the same message you mention.



IMG_0185.jpg
 
arclight said:
I suspect that something dodgy is going on. Think I'll stay clear.


Facebook try to guard against that and do not permit anyone to have more than one identity (which they say must be your real identity). If you get caught trying then your bum goes out of the window and they will block you.
Click to expand...

Nothing dodgy is going on, there are trying to protect your information and data by adding this extra layer of security
 
Exactly what are they checking it against?
 
Doesn't EU data protection law prohibit the use of harvested data for marketing purposes? (but voluntarily provided data is fair game)
A submitted photo that's definitely you will allow their face recognition tech to calculate your ident metrics (before deletion), which will allow them to identify you in uploaded images and use that for targeted marketing.
The people signing up and not being asked may be due to FB already having enough image data to know what you look like.
 
Tori_T said:
Doesn't EU data protection law prohibit the use of harvested data for marketing purposes? (but voluntarily provided data is fair game)
A submitted photo that's definitely you will allow their face recognition tech to calculate your ident metrics (before deletion), which will allow them to identify you in uploaded images and use that for targeted marketing.
The people signing up and not being asked may be due to FB already having enough image data to know what you look like.
Click to expand...
I get the theory, but how do they know it's definitely you. What are they able to check against?
 
The user has stated it's them, and chances are the people they know have posted photos and tagged the user as being in them. Once farcebook runs the metrics against those photos and gets a match, they know it's definitely the user.
Verified metrics from an ID style photo can then be used to scan untagged photos for matches, to give them (when combined with image GPS/EXIF data) marketable info what you do, where you go, and when.
 
Tori_T said:
The user has stated it's them, and chances are the people they know have posted photos and tagged the user as being in them. Once farcebook runs the metrics against those photos and gets a match, they know it's definitely the user.
Click to expand...

But, if it's someone registering for the first time, no-one will have tagged them.
 
fabs said:
So, to repeat what I, and others, keep asking, what are they checking the photo against? How does this "protect your information and data"?
Click to expand...

You are asking the wrong person.

You need to direct your questions to Facebook
 
Keith W said:
You are asking the wrong person.

You need to direct your questions to Facebook
Click to expand...

But you're the one who made the following statement

Keith W said:
Nothing dodgy is going on, there are trying to protect your information and data by adding this extra layer of security
Click to expand...

You seem to present it as matter of fact so I assumed you'd know in which way this extra layer of security would protect peoples' information.
 
fabs said:
But you're the one who made the following statement

You seem to present it as matter of fact so I assumed you'd know in which way this extra layer of security would protect peoples' information.
Click to expand...


Well if you could not provide what appears to be valid ID then you do not get into the account.


Facebook said:
There are two reasons why you may be asked to send a scan or photo of an ID to Facebook:
  • To show account ownership: Your security is important to us. We ask for an ID so that we don't let anyone into your account except you.
  • To confirm your name: We ask everyone on Facebook to use the name they go by in everyday life. This helps keep our community safe.
Keep in mind that after you send us a photo or scan of your ID, we'll permanently delete it from our servers.
Click to expand...


It is Facebook's playground and they set the rules, if people do not like their rules then do not play in their playground.
 
Last edited:
Keith W said:
Well if you could not provide what appears to be valid ID then you do not get into the account.





It is Facebook's playground and they sent the rules, if people do not like their rules then do not play in their playground.
Click to expand...

I think you're missing the point though Keith. The question we're asking is that, if you upload a photo of yourself, how do they check that you are who you say you are?
 
  • To confirm your name: We ask everyone on Facebook to use the name they go by in everyday life. This helps keep our community safe.

And of course, everybody does...Just like no-one under the age of 13 uses Facebook via their own account. ;)
 
fabs said:
I think you're missing the point though Keith. The question we're asking is that, if you upload a photo of yourself, how do they check that you are who you say you are?
Click to expand...

I think you are getting stuck on the photo aspect of it.

Though they are asking for photo ID, passport/driving licences, there is a lot of information on them that would give them an indication on the validity of that ID.

If you can not provide something they feel is valid then you do not get in
 
viv1969 said:
  • To confirm your name: We ask everyone on Facebook to use the name they go by in everyday life. This helps keep our community safe.
And of course, everybody does...Just like no-one under the age of 13 uses Facebook via their own account. ;)
Click to expand...

Exactly
 
fabs said:
I think you're missing the point though Keith. The question we're asking is that, if you upload a photo of yourself, how do they check that you are who you say you are?
Click to expand...
But (according to that quote) they're not asking for a photo, they're asking for a photo of your ID; that generally means passport/drivers licence/etc.
Unless you're good with PS, that gives them pretty much everything they need to confirm you are you.
 
Tori_T said:
But (according to that quote) they're not asking for a photo, they're asking for a photo of your ID; that generally means passport/drivers licence/etc.
Unless you're good with PS, that gives them pretty much everything they need to confirm you are you.
Click to expand...

This is the message I was responding to, nothing thee that stipulated ID, just "Upload a photo of you that clearly shows your face"

Dave1 said:
It isn't just you, I was curious so attempted to sign up and got the same message you mention.



IMG_0185.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Tori_T said:
But (according to that quote) they're not asking for a photo, they're asking for a photo of your ID; that generally means passport/drivers licence/etc.
Unless you're good with PS, that gives them pretty much everything they need to confirm you are you.
Click to expand...

How? I could scan someone else's ID. They've nothing to check it against.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top