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Stripe Identity

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Re: Stripe Identity

#321

I really despise this trend of uploading your ID and a selfie for verification. I know it makes sense in some legal frameworks, but beyond that I find it invasive and risky (and rude.)

I recently had, twice, to do stuff WAY more intrusive. Video/conf call, need to hold my passport, need to have my phone on hand... People on the other side would call me on my phone to verify it's my number and they'd also send me a SMS with a code to verify on that phone.

After that they have: my face, copy of my passport, my voice, my phone number, my IP (unless I'm really going out of my way to obfuscate it), my email, etc.

Once I did this, then the series of documents to sign using Docusign came in.

That was the most serious KYC/AML I've ever seen.

I don't like it much but I gotta say: I can definitely see how it raises the bar for would be scammers/impersonators.

Re: Stripe Identity

#322
looks like a cool solution. having researched these tools very recently, i will say, the pricing is very high. there are other offerings on the market for $0.50 per look up and only bill you if its a positive lookup.

Re: Stripe Identity

#323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly find it weird having all of these things suddenly want a copy of my passport in the cloud just sitting there waiting to be hacked in years to come when the security measures drop. At this point there is giant databases containing everything people need to take complete control of your identity sitting there just waiting to be hacked. I have no idea how to change it/fix it. But it seems weird to me.

The fix is for the government to make it a service. Right now, the government is punting responsibility to private actors who do not have the legal tools to operate an identity service. The government already operates an identity service via passports. The only reason they do not have an electronic identity service yet is because it is beneficial for them to be able to blame private actors when things go wrong.

This is The Correct Answer™.

Misc governments already operate 1,000s of identity, credentialing, and licensing services.

Wouldn't it be great if profiles on DoorDash, Yelp, Hotels, etc. were required to be linked to IRL identities and licenses?

Re: Stripe Identity

#324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly find it weird having all of these things suddenly want a copy of my passport in the cloud just sitting there waiting to be hacked in years to come when the security measures drop. At this point there is giant databases containing everything people need to take complete control of your identity sitting there just waiting to be hacked. I have no idea how to change it/fix it. But it seems weird to me.

The fix is for the government to make it a service. Right now, the government is punting responsibility to private actors who do not have the legal tools to operate an identity service. The government already operates an identity service via passports. The only reason they do not have an electronic identity service yet is because it is beneficial for them to be able to blame private actors when things go wrong.

But at a fundamental level, why do Discord and Clubhouse need to verify my identity?

I don't think the question GP is asking is whether or not Stripe is a good way to confirm someone's real-life identity, or whether it would be better for the government to do it. I think what they're asking why we're doing identity verification for chat applications. Is this a good direction overall for the Internet to be moving in?

I don't like the idea that I should have one real-life identity that every service I sign up for online knows, even trivial services like social networks. I would argue a world like that is abridging on people's Right to Hide (https://anewdigitalmanifesto.com/#right-to-hide)

Re: Stripe Identity

#325
Please no.

If we need to use our identity online for Age Vertification, then why doesn't the government step in with an anonymous service for that?

That - and - sites should have to get some kind of basic regulatory approval for asking for id.

And then liable if they leak the data.

Re: Stripe Identity

#326
post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unfortunate , I'm an Enterprise Architect in Banking and honestly I wouldn't have let that feature go in production. Businesses that do not have a legitimate reason to view my sensitive document like Passport , should not be allowed to do so. Only authorized institutions like Licensed Payment Institution / Banks / Insurances etc... should be allowed to do so and AFTER they've been approved. It's sad because you…

But, also as an Enterprise Architect in Banking, if you were considering Stripe Identity wouldn't you rely on it for KYC compliance? You can't just say Oh we outsource that to a third-party called Stripe, can you?

That's not my point , here my point is very clear and straightforward.

Some people at Discord now have access at the pictures of my Passport that I uploaded during the verification process because they use "Stripe Identity".

The FAQ is very clear , Stripe give you full access to those documents. It should NEVER do so.

Now the very smart people have Discord have access to my passport they can now take a 50K Loan using my documents and face-check video , social security and some fake income documents.

They can also destroy my entire life because I maintain a political blog with views they don't really like that they consider "hate speech". These are exaggerated examples , but you get the idea.

I'm concerned by this , because more and more startups are going to use it to increase the value of their userbase to reduce fraud and look more attractive for their planned exit.

In the meantime, people having access to my personal documents is going to go exponential...

Again , I'm an Architect in Banking we have 500+ Partners selling Loan for us , they have NEVER access to your documents / personal data. They can only tell if the document has been approved , income range and some basic information. You don't know what they are going to do those sensitive documents / info , even if you have contractual agreement with them.

Banking industry has had a very simple rule that everyone has been following for decade : DON'T TRUST THIRD PARTY. Stripe has decided to do otherwise I guess and I'm pretty scared about it.

Stripe Identity seems like Identity Theft as a Service.

Re: Stripe Identity

#327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t the idea be that the company would continue to create value after going public?

The idea of going public is to raise another round of financing for the company while being able to get liquidity for private shareholders. It is not necessarily to create value going forward. The best option is for the company to raise a good deal from the public markets (high valuation on limited equity) and then execute successfully without needing to raise again. If they do need to raise again they have hopefully…

> The idea of going public is to raise another round of financing for the company while being able to get liquidity for private shareholders. It is not necessarily to create value going forward.

Perhaps the company doesn't necessarily intend to create value going forward, but they must at least pretend to have that intention. What I meant was that the idea of the people buying public stock in a company is that the company will create value going forward.

Re: Stripe Identity

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fix is for the government to make it a service. Right now, the government is punting responsibility to private actors who do not have the legal tools to operate an identity service. The government already operates an identity service via passports. The only reason they do not have an electronic identity service yet is because it is beneficial for them to be able to blame private actors when things go wrong.

But at a fundamental level, why do Discord and Clubhouse need to verify my identity? I don't think the question GP is asking is whether or not Stripe is a good way to confirm someone's real-life identity, or whether it would be better for the government to do it. I think what they're asking why we're doing identity verification for chat applications. Is this a good direction overall for the Internet to be moving in?…

Who is “we”? Maybe the people operating the chat app have determined that it is in their businesses’ best interest to verify identity. I can certainly see it reducing costs for the business.

I am not suggesting all businesses be required to do it. But I do not see why businesses should be prohibited from doing it. If you do not want an identity linked service, then buy a website name, and start a business and do not require people to identify.

Re: Stripe Identity

#329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But at a fundamental level, why do Discord and Clubhouse need to verify my identity? I don't think the question GP is asking is whether or not Stripe is a good way to confirm someone's real-life identity, or whether it would be better for the government to do it. I think what they're asking why we're doing identity verification for chat applications. Is this a good direction overall for the Internet to be moving in?…

Who is “we”? Maybe the people operating the chat app have determined that it is in their businesses’ best interest to verify identity. I can certainly see it reducing costs for the business. I am not suggesting all businesses be required to do it. But I do not see why businesses should be prohibited from doing it. If you do not want an identity linked service, then buy a website name, and start a business and do not…

"We" in this context means the overall population of users on the web, including non-corporate users and individuals who are exercising their freedoms online.

We can't justify every architecture decision about the web via only business costs, if that was the case we'd make adblockers illegal and deprecate HTML. You need a stronger argument if you want me as a user to care about or support your business interests. If you want my support you have to show how this benefits the web overall, not just your company.

Re: Stripe Identity

#330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is “we”? Maybe the people operating the chat app have determined that it is in their businesses’ best interest to verify identity. I can certainly see it reducing costs for the business. I am not suggesting all businesses be required to do it. But I do not see why businesses should be prohibited from doing it. If you do not want an identity linked service, then buy a website name, and start a business and do not…

"We" in this context means the overall population of users on the web, including non-corporate users and individuals who are exercising their freedoms online. We can't justify every architecture decision about the web via only business costs, if that was the case we'd make adblockers illegal and deprecate HTML. You need a stronger argument if you want me as a user to care about or support your business interests. If…

Is this a discussion about the architecture of the web? Or about specific websites? If Costco wants me to login to their website to buy things, or Facebook wants me to use real identity, that does not stop me from using alternatives that do not.

Am I entitled to alternatives that do not verify identity? Maybe the operating costs are too high?

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