Facebook Asks Users for Social Security Card and Bank Statement?

Facebook is only a social networking site used by teens and now, mamas and papas. Every user has the same intention and that is to stay in touch with friends and family through it. No one can deny that the site is simply a place for warm online pleasure consisting of sharing memories and rants.

But somehow Mark Zuckerberg, the founder who has been accused of stealing the site concept from his Harvard mates and brags about being a legal hacker, seems to be taking it too far. No one has done what he has put to work recently. Facebook now asks users to upload their passport, immigration ID with signature or government identification card which in case of nonexistence can be compensated by the upload of social security card, utility bill, bank statement, birth certificate and what not! And yes, for the second option, just one document is not enough. Facebook must be fed at least two different papers. This is neither a joke nor a rumor from those who stay away from social networking sites. Have a look at the screenshot.

It is hilarious that they are saying that they will delete the documents despite the fact they are known for saving the deleted profiles and photos of their users. If you click on "I don't have a government-issued ID" you will be taken to the second option which looks like this:

These two options are part of martial law styled cyber checkpoint that Facebook uses on people trying to get into their locked profiles. Generally, they are first asked for verification of birth date. When this is rejected the second option given is a quiz in which the users in distress must identify their Facebook friends from a set of photos. Now trilogy is brought to life with the option of uploading of government issued documents. If this one is chosen lots of things can go wrong for the user. Here are some things to consider:

Fake privacy
The so called strict privacy of Facebook is not so strict after all. Federal trade commission found the company guilty of breaking promises linked to it in several occasions. According to complaints filed, the site violated their agreement to allow users restrict who can see their profiles. The investigation showed that the third party application owners got access to all the information that the user wanted to restrict simply by allowing them or their friends to use their apps. Facebook was also found guilty of selling users' information to marketers and making certain parts of their profiles fully available online during layout changes without allowing them to know it was going to happen. To make things worse, even the deleted profiles were accessible. In short, Facebook does not respect people's privacy and in their eyes, informed consent can go to hell.

Thief of Facebook
Also it would be silly to think that Facebook can be trusted. Couple of months ago, few case studies showed that the site was involved in unscrupulous dealing with the marketers trying to reach potential customers through fan pages. What happened was that they received likes, but not from expected and targeted locations. It became even more complex when the rarely known American small independent businesses found out that their Facebook ads were increasing the likes on their pages, but those who were giving them resided in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. No real activity right on the pages from these users was noticeable either. Exploration of their profiles revealed that they also gave likes to the pages of competitors. In the end, the marketers lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What was exactly occurring? Those who are in search engine optimization knows the answer. Several sites offer Facebook likes either in exchange format or for as low as $10. Sometimes they pay to likers also in cents for each like, attracting great number of people from South Asian countries looking to make residual income. Facebook in public is against it. They say in their policy that they are highly intolerant of those who buy likes. However, the conclusion of the case studies is that Facebook itself uses such sites to make their ads appear effective to marketers. The news broke out like wildfire. But even today nothing has been done about it. Facebook keeps boasting about how they are improving their ads. After hearing it, can you truly trust them with government documents that can change your life overnight?

Virus in love with personal information
In the past, Facebook admitted to being attacked by viruses which did not just spam the profiles, but also targeted credit card information of users. At least 11 million computers were infected just through this social networking site. Although now Facebook says they are working with FBI to fight this problem remember that infinitely creative virus inventors are not taking a break from innovation. Credit cards and government issued documents go hand in hand. But of course, they are nothing compared to chunky bank account number found right within the statement. As for company ID, it is possible to be in trouble with the employer for free online share of it.

The question we need to ponder upon is whether it is worth asking for social security card to help a user unlock an account of social networking site. Imagine Myspace doing the same during its hey day. Media would have attacked the site with fury of the hyena. Thanks to association with the government, Facebook does not have to experience it. But no one can deny that it is by far the best spy machine the Internet has ever seen.