Callowman writes:
In the past few hours, Facebook has had the poor taste to boot several people associated with this blog out, requesting that we upload an image of a government ID to get back in. I am the latest victim.
Suddenly, Google+ is looking a whole lot better. Hell, I assume they already have all the information on my government ID, and a whole lot more to boot. They’re the perfected electronic version of the soulful Stasi snoop in The Lives of Others.
How much information do we need to supply to a free social networking site, anyway? Admittedly, I value the service they provide a great deal. Yet I’m not so sure I’m going to comply with this request. Anybody else have any sensible thoughts on the subject?
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
Uncouth Reflections 
They blocked me as well. I’m not feeling like complying at this point. More here:
http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/10/facebook-still-asking-for-government-ids/
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I’ll probably leave Facebook if they lift me. It will be a good excuse to be more productive and waste less time on the computer.
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I’ll stew over it for a while, at least. I’m not so sure taking a principled stand on the issue makes any difference. If enough people hold out and kvetch about it through other channels, though, maybe they’ll relent.
All this for their stupid “real name” requirement! And I feel doubly put out that anybody would imagine I’d choose an alias as lame as my real name, which is in fact the name I use on Facebook. If I were going to go fake, I’d choose something more along the lines of “Porfirio Rubirosa”. That guy was cool.
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Well, they want proof that you aren’t anonymous so they can get a higher price for your personal information. The personal information of “Callowman” isn’t worth a whole lot, I imagine. I’m sure the bot that determines this looks for certain warning signs — jokey place of residence, no birthdate, no place of work, weird-sounding name, etc. Anything you’ve done to keep yourself semi-anonymous.
The message is that Facebook doesn’t want you messing with their product — which is you.
In the future probably all users will be forced to present an ID. Maybe a Facebook account will be seen as a valid form of ID — maybe even the MOST valid one. And then maybe they can start charging you for the service….
I want to know what happens to my account now that I’m blocked. It’s still there for people to see? If I can’t use it, I want it shut down and inaccessible. Fat chance of that, I’m sure.
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Everyone’s name with most recent profile photo is still in my friends list, but in black type (i.e. no live hyperlink to the profile). If I type one of your names in the search window, it is as if you had never existed…
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Your analysis is spot on, I think. I purposely provide very little information about myself on FB – no college, no high school, no work, etc.
Prior to my erasure, I looked for you. You were disappeared. All your posts were gone and your name was not returned by a search. You still appeared in my friend list, but your name was no longer a hyperlink.
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Whenever I rent a car the rental company sees my driver’s license, and whenever I buy alcohol at Target they swipe my license to verify it. I’m probably going to take a picture of it and redact everything except my face and birthdate.
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Do they mean scan the photo page of your passport and attach to an e-mail? What is this? Will this apply to foreign nationals?
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Evidently. It applied to me. I didn’t read the instructions very closely, since my instareaction was to make like Norman Mailer and say, “Fug it!”
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Are you guys certain it is legit and not a virus of some kind? I’m asking because I posted a link to this on my FB wall and that’s what people are speculating.
I’m really upset by this.
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I’m assuming it’s legit per Fabrizio’s link. Certainly my first thought was that it might be a phishing attempt, however.
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Unbelievable.
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Pretty sure it’s legit.
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😦
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Have there been reports from folks not associated with UR? If several people associated with this blog all got booted simultaneously, and it doens’t seem that a rash of others did, that would be . . . interesting.
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So far it’s only people associated with UR. I suspect foul play.
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If that’s the case, I think someone got a bug up their butt about this blog and submitted a complaint to Facebook. Why that would trigger our banning, I’m not sure, but maybe the whole idea of aliases freaked them out — even if we use our real names on Facebook.
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Also, I don’t have your email! Can you email me through my website, Fab?
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Only if you scan your ID first.
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I know of two other people who got booted.
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Well, that’s something of a relief. If it’s a big purge, I suspect there will be some news stories.
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I also got booted.
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Funniest website comment I’ve seen on this issue:
“Facebook is racist because it’s harder for minorities to get an ID.”
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WTF?
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I haven’t been bugged yet, though.
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Yeah, but you got the boot from Facebook, right? It looked that way from my POV up until they stubbed me out.
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They apparently did boot me for a few hours. But now (without me doing anything, aside from taking a nap and then waking up in the midst of all this) I’m back on.
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Hey! Me too!
Never mind.
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This page claims they will accept things like magazine subscription stubs, but the message FB gave me specified color government ID.
https://www.facebook.com/help/385569904840341
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My first worry was that it was the rapture.
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From some months back: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130122184803AAy4wrR
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Does anyone want to see the FB guidelines on this? I can take a screensnap and post it here. They say that if you want to you can fuzz out everything on your i.d. but your face and name.
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I’ve been stuck in a deposition for the past few hours with a laptop without WiFi and then my phone wouldn’t log into Facebook. Is this what it’s like to be a contemporary political prisoner? Free the UR 14!
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It was all just a glitch, says the Orange County Register.
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Hmmm. A genuine glitch or was the “detect fake identities” filter temporarily set so as to be too sensitive? Also, was it a glitch when this happened to some people back in late October? How weird.
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