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Comment by p-e-w | Hacker News Reader

Just because a company wants to know who you are doesn’t mean they are entitled to a scan of a sensitive government document that can be used to commit identity theft.

I’m amazed that it is even legal for businesses to ask for that at all, outside of a few exceptional cases of which “I want to rent a server” most certainly isn’t one.

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> I’m amazed that it is even legal for businesses to ask for that at all, outside of a few exceptional cases of which “I want to rent a server” most certainly isn’t one.

How about the case of “I want to rent a server to distribute illicit and or dangerous materials and then it’s your problem”?

    > How about the case of “I want to rent a server to distribute illicit and or dangerous materials and then it’s your problem”?

Why would it be?

And are we going to use "because terrorism" card on HN?

Yeah, I think that’s the one case where it’s actually appropriate to use that card.

Like it or not, banks are legally mandated to do KYC, and this is essentially the same, except for information or communication being “moved” instead of money.

It's a foreign concept to Americans but in Europe everyone is supposed to be able to be held accountable. That means a lot more things are KYC. You need ID to get a SIM card or a drone.

Why can't they say "we got payments from this and this payment card" and then they can follow up with the bank?

They ask me for it when I need a sim card. What is the difference.

None, and I think it's actually the very same law, all internet connections must be KYCed.

It's rather an indicator of a system that is so broken that a digital copy of a single form of ID document is sufficient to impersonate someone well enough to do financial damage.

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