Anthropic wants your government ID. The company has updated its identity verification page for Claude, mandating verification with official ID and a selfie for using certain features. While we are used to verifying our ID for bank accounts, SIM cards and whatnot, this marks the first time that a company wants a sort of know-your-customer (KYC) to use an AI tool.
Do note that Anthropic recently witnessed a big influx of Claude users after it walked away from a deal with the US Department of Defense, fearing that its AI models may be used for mass domestic surveillance.
Government ID for Claude
On the website, Anthropic states that it’s trying to be “responsible” with this verification step as it gets to know “who is using” its powerful AI tools. The Dario Amodei-led firm claims that this will help it “prevent abuse, enforce our usage policies, and comply with legal obligations.”
Though verification is only required for a few use cases, Anthropic does not define what these cases may be.
How to verify ID on Claude?
The AI startup states that it accepts original passports, driver’s licenses, state/provincial ID cards or national identity cards for this process. Users also need to upload a selfie.
When asked to verify your identity, you will need to show the original government-issued ID, and take a life selfie. Anthropic states that it does not accept photocopies or digital IDs. As per the company, the process will take only about five minutes.
This data is processed by Persona Identities, a company known for secure verification technology. Anthropic claims that the information will not be used for model training and that it remains on Persona’s servers, not on its own.
Anthropic says that you can have multiple attempts to verify in case the initial attempt fails. However, the company may ban your account in some cases, such as if Claude is unavailable in your location or if you are under 18.
Users fear tracking of AI use
The fact that Anthropic, a company that is often considered as one of the more ethical firms in the AI industry, wants your government ID to use Claude has raised suspicions online. Do note that this verification is not mandated by any law, but has been introduced voluntarily by Anthropic.
One user claimed that this may pave the door for laws which track all AI use. The person wrote, “Next up will be laws: No AI without gov-issued ID, All AI use tracked to individual – no private AI.”
Another user reckoned that this may backfire on Anthropic as no other AI company, such as OpenAI and Google want such verifications. The user wrote, “Anthropic just handed their competitors a gift.”
