Users of Anthropic’s Claude AI platform will soon need to present government-issued ID, such as a passport or driver’s license, to use the service.
The company confirmed that users will need to provide ID to access “certain options” in Claude AI tools, but claimed it was part of its “routine platform integrity checks”.
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Claude user data
“Being responsible with powerful technology starts with knowing who uses it,” explained a Claude Support post detailing the news. “Identity verification helps us prevent abuse, enforce our usage policies, and comply with legal obligations.”
“We are rolling out identity verification for a few use cases, and you may see a verification prompt when accessing certain features, as part of our routine platform integrity checks or other security and compliance measures.”
As part of the verification process, Anthropic says users may also be asked to take a live selfie with your phone or webcam to prove their identity, with the company saying the entire process “typically takes under five minutes.”
Government-issued ID “from most countries” will be accepted as long as it includes a photo of the user – for example, a passport, driver’s license or state/provincial ID or national identity card.
Photocopies, screenshots, scans or photos of an image will not be accepted, nor will digital or mobile IDs, student IDs, employee badges, library cards, bank cards or temporary paper IDs.
Providing ID is typical to access some technology platforms, but given the recent controversies surrounding some of Anthropic’s services, users may be concerned about the security of their data.
The company says that since it is the data controller of the information, it sets the rules for how it is used and how long it is kept. The data will be stored on Persona systems processed on behalf of Anthropic, which means that the latter can access verification records via Persona’s platform when necessary, e.g. if it has to review an appeal, but it does not copy or store these images.
Anthropic was also very clear in outlining that it does not use identity data to train its models, noting “verification data is used solely to verify who you are and to meet our legal and security obligations,” and that it asks for the minimum amount required to verify a user’s identity.
“We do not share your identity data with anyone else,” it added. “Confirmation Data remains between you, Persona and Anthropic, except where we are legally required to respond to valid legal process. Your Verification Data is never shared with third parties for marketing, advertising or other purposes unrelated to verification and compliance.”
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