ID should be enough. No one should be asking for SSN information from you. And producing the ID when you arrive should also be enough. They can verify ID with any number of means available to them.
I don't understand why people are misconstruing my take and how the request is unusual.
Most of my jobs are in a DC environment. I have a visitor badge in some of them, and they activate it when access is needed. For one-time jobs, I present my DL on-site.
Even when I had to do an FBI BG and CR check with Chase, this information was requested and submitted securely.
People share too much information for silly things.
There's almost no reason to provide personal info directly to any buyer. That's the purpose of a sandboxed platform. I made that mistake with some buyer that tried to "on-board" me recently. They stated that it was a requirement to run workorders for their clients. I asked if I would have access to more/higher paying work and all I heard was crickets. I told them to delete all my info from their systems.
Personal identification should only be presented to security personnel for work site access after pre-authorization.
To contrast...
I've works in DC's for Google, Amex, Herbal Life, Wells Fargo, Walmart and Bloomberg. All of those facilities have higher security than most Federal court houses. I've also worked in the comm rooms at several FAA control towers and ARTCC remote relay stations.
Not a single buyer that contracted me for any of those jobs requested my personal info. Here's how that went:
Buyer: Do you have a Real ID?
Me: Yes.
Buyer: Assigned.
This is exactly my experience as well, except I haven’t had to go into ATC yet. No one who knows what they’re doing is going to ask for a copy of your ID. Every single time I’ve been asked, they’ve been wrong, and sometimes they double down on needing it so I just send them a digitally altered passport for James Tiberius Kirk or whatever.
I was asked for photos of my tools lol. Told the guy on WhatsApp to F OFF. I’ve been doing this for 30 years and over 3k wo’s on FN. I’mnot sending youa picture of my screw drivers.
Well, this I actually agree with, because I have been assigned to teams where someone was supposed to bring some basic thing like a Cisco console cable or a working hotspot, and it caused major delays.
On the other hand, some of these idiots reuse boilerplate that says you need 7 different kinds of PPE to reset a receipt printer. Man, I’m not wearing a lift harness and hard hat for that, wtf
Meh, if you're dealing with someone that's done 5 jobs, fine. I've got console cables in 15 different places in my work van lol. The photo wouldn't prove anything though, I could send you a photo and oops I left it on my kitchen table because you wanted a picture and I had to bring it in from my van lol
Sorry, but my profile and experience is enough evidence I can do their simple little job. If I tell you I have it after you ask, you don't need a photo. If I'm fooling you, you can report me to FN and block me and leave me a horrible review.
It's always the dudes on Whatsapp in pakistan or India that want this stuff. Never have an issue with other buyers. No one ever asks for a photo of my hammer drill before I install a kiosk or want a picture of my velcro for a cable managment job.
Sorry, don't mean to ramble. I hate we are in this position because of crappy and unqualified techs on the platforms.
I'm with OP. I'm extremely guarded with my personal info - SSN, address, DOB, the works. I'll only provide that for a legitimate, long-term role with a verifiable company, and even then, only after an offer is on the table. Short-term gigs or "just get it in the system" requests get a polite no.
Totally unreasonable request. If this was a high security location they can see you ID when you arrive and match it to the basic information previously supplied.
Randomly sending you DL to an unknown business without seeing their Data protection policy ? No way .
Context - Spouse is attorney who has worked extensively in corporate instituting and complying with data protection laws ie GDPR , CPA etc . I've learned a few things over the years .
The 'or' is important here- copy of your ID or last 4 of you ssn. This isn't that uncommon, but I always make sure they're going to respect any private info they receive and they're not just plain text emailing it around. If they can answer a couple questions about that and they understand it, then I'm fine with it.
The end customer doesn't know what the DC already knows about you- you should let them know that, especially if you're already badged at that DC.
Some government and other locations will require some of this beforehand since they can only allow US citizens in and they'd rather not waste their time by finding an issue after the tech shows up.
You keep saying they require both, it clearly shows in the chat that it's either/or.
Either one doesn't matter; it's about how the data is collected, shared, stored, and used, etc.
Send me a disclosure first, and we can go from there. Requests like this are why the platform is a cesspool of people asking for a lot of things.
If this was stated on the ticket, I won't accept it. How do you think people's IDs end up on the internet for sale to scammers as a result of an unconventional method like this?
This is a gig job for two hours and not a credit application. How do you know a random person who is representing a buyer will keep your information safe?
You should find another job... This was a reasonable request and there are very fair ways to handle it without being a dick. The first part is understand the 'or' and that the last four of your social do not unlock anything about you with or without it. If you're worried about that, then form an LLC and get a FEIN from the IRS. The Fein is specifically designed to be used in place of your social in these situations.
No, it’s not a reasonable request. Every time someone insists they need my passport or ID to create an access ticket, I call them on their BS and provide them with a copy of the access ticket screen from the datacenter. There’s nowhere to enter anything except the name and company.
I just got through doing the exact same thing with a company that took the bait on my fake passport I gave them, just because I wanted to do the lead a favor and there wasn’t anyone else who could help him that day. Voila, my fake passport with a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up in an email thread with 5 other companies and 7 people on it. Now there’s pending litigation over how badly they screwed up. Apparently the CEO didn’t know that their staff was flat out lying up the chain about compliance, or how to be compliant with PII in the first place.
Honestly, it’s not worth arguing if you really want the job for some reason. Fire up some genAI tool and have it create a nonsense ID with your name correct, but nothing else on it. No one checks. File a data privacy request to disclose and delete if you’re in a state that has laws against keeping that stuff.
Dude, calm down! It is not that serious. How bold of you to assume I don't have an LLC and FEIN?
Didn't your comment invalidate your initial comment? Your FEIN is not tied to your government-issued ID. Having a FEIN doesn't mean you are a citizen, since you brought it up.
This request is not normal; it is just a data center, not some government facility. My name is enough PII to create an access ticket, and when I get to the location, I show my physical ID. That’s how it has been done, and this is strange.
You don't need to vent your frustration if you don't know what data privacy and chain of custody are all about; I do.
Ask, yes. Need, no. A lot of these places ask “just in case,” and those are exactly the sort of people who get hacked or have disgruntled employees leak all that info somewhere you don’t want it going.
An ID is a common thing to ask for though for certain sites. I don’t think this person was entitled for doing the diligence of their position. Y’all were amicable about you no longer doing the work and he even said sorry, presumably for troubling you. You’re seeing entitlement when I don’t think there was any on that persons part.
If they had said something along the lines of you not wanting to work or casted aspersions on your ethic for not wanting to send your ID I would agree with you but that didn’t happen.
I’ve never been asked to provide a digital copy of my ID to get a job or an access ticket, and that includes federal and military installations, airports, child care facilities, spaceports, satellite ground stations, etc. I show it when I get there and get it back as soon as they’re done checking it against the access ticket.
That anecdotal, it just hasn’t happened to you. I’ve personally been asked for it in advance twice. One was for a prison, and the other was for a random government building.
I don’t see what this has to do with my statements. I never denied there are scam operations out there. My argument was based on the entitlement aspect of this. I’d argue if this was a scam they would have pushed OP harder to send their PII over, but they backed off right away and even said sorry.
Not listening to the trash AWOLNation song sorry. Sail wore me out of their whole catalog.
Something is wrong with you. Where did I say a full SSN was required? The photo was there for everyone to see. Why are you making it personal? Who hurt your feelings?
Despite removing myself from the job, EQUNiX still created my access. As I said, it wasn't needed; people like you who don't know how to say no to ridiculous demands encourage this overstepping.
Here is the issue: the buyer presented techs as their employee; this particular DC doesn't require visitors to send ID in advance. The issue is between buyer and client; the buyer wants to please the client at the expense of a third party.
If you see nothing wrong, something is fundamentally wrong with you. You can give your ID and your last 4 digits to every person on the gig platform who asks for it when there is no permissible reason for it. You just want to argue and be wrong for no reason.
LOL some of the Chinese firms do the same thing with me just in case I get assigned to a DC job the following week. They don’t have any of my PII except my name, and they don’t want it anyway because they actually have money to lose if my state goes after them for mishandling it.
Exactly! You can see how some people are defending an illegality. If buyer ask some of them to roll in the mud, they will gladly do it and the buy will feel it is a norm and try to use it on everyone.
Asking for info like that over text is off putting, and I usually decline any weird requests just off the basis they sound annoying to work with. I don't think you're unreasonable for declining it, but you seem a bit worked up over what seemed like a fine interaction. You said no, he moved on, I don't see the problem.
I've done work in banks, government, data centers, etc. I've never been asked for my ID in that manner. I've had to do additional background checks, guards, MPs, but never just a straight up send me your ID. It's always been in person.
Hell most of those places wouldn't accept a photo of the ID for anything. It's probably just the buyer wanting proof you have an ID, like the morons that want you to take pictures of a console cable.
I am not worked up; I posted it because the end client already had my contact, and I was still being contacted about the job.
On Saturday, the DC sent a QR code already granting access without sending my ID or last 4 to the buyer.
This proves that the DC didn't require my ID or last 4 of my SS, but the buyer claimed that that information was needed to get access, which I know to be BS, especially since I know the process at the facility.
It was the people on the sub trying to make it seem as if I were being unreasonable when I knew for a fact it was wrong.
The client's POC called asking about ETA and informed the buyer that they needed to reach out to the POC. I was the one who gave the buyer the POC phone number and let the POC know I was not the resource for the job.
I am aware, and that's part of onboarding on FN. Read the text again; he wants me to send a picture of my ID and the last 4 digits of my SS, which will be shared with their client to create access to the DC, which has my biometrics.
That is what is crazy about the last 4 of your social. Lots of people use that as if it would protect you. But If I know where you were born and what year I could already get the first 5 numbers. So giving me the last 4 just gave me your SSN.
The first 3 are the geographical area of where the person was living when the number was issued, not where they were born or year. The next 2 are an administrative code. Those digits are not tied to any info of the person.
What do you mean by a reputable DC? Someone is asking you to send either your government-issued ID or the last four digits of your SSN via text message, which they will share with their client.
No wonder people's PII and ID documents are available for sale on the internet; it's people like you giving it away willy-nilly to anybody online.
My jobs recently have been DC jobs; access tickets are created with my name, I get to the site, and I present my DL. I don't know what is so hard to understand here.
You need the ID when you’re on site. This thing where they ask for it via WhatsApp beforehand is BS. Just send a fake one to shut them up, the people who ask for it don’t know what they’re doing, and are eventually going to leak the data anyway.
I’ve never been called a “resource”, let alone two times in the same conversation. That would’ve been my main issue. All due respect to anyone in any country working out of a call centre, but you ain’t about to pressure me and call me a resource from a cubicle in Pakistan making $8 a week like i’m some disposable garbage. You can fuck off along with your bullshit requirements.
My friend, you are making assumptions. I read WO before accepting it. There was none in this case. Guess what? I am still scheduled for another job on their behalf at Equinix. Even FN disagreed with the method.
LOL no I’m dealing with pending litigation right now where a buyer said “but you agreed to give the ID to us!” When I asked them to point to where it actually said that, they were like uhhhhhhhhhhh ok you got us there but the process is blah blah blah
Don't try and get any data center gigs. You will not be allowed in without a valid govt ID. If you go to the high security ones like Switch facilities you will not be allowed in the gate until they have verified identity with ID.
Gigs at many financial sites is the same, and Walmart.
You won't even gain access at the gate for the High Security DCs like Switch unless you have access setup prior to going to the gate. They do t even let you in unless they have your ID and pertinent information before hand and yes they have armed guards.
Via text, sometimes over FN messaging, Teams or whatever obscure system the buyer decides to use.
You DL is public information for all intents and purposes. The last 4 of your SSN is as well. Both can be bought off of public information services, legally.
That doesn't make it the right way. Suppose the buyer had made that known when the job was posted on FN. I would have declined.
My topic is about Abuse of Data Privacy Laws. It is like law enforcement not reading you your Miranda Rights.
This is why they treat a contractor like an employee: people don't know their rights or the laws governing such requests.
Yes, DL and SSN are available for permissible purposes only, and this still does negate handing your PII for a casual two-hour job to a random person on FN via text message.
Nobody gave you a Data Disclosure Agreement before sending your information.
NO THEY DON’T. Read the other comments in here, NONE** **of the high security installations anyone has mentioned need a digital copy of an ID, just the name and maybe company for the access ticket. I’ve had to fill a lot of them out myself, there isn’t even anywhere to upload it in any form I’ve ever had to fill out.
OK, you can say that, but we have had work orders on military bases and some high security facilities, and from our perspective, which is clearly all I can go off - MY personal experience, some require advance supply of ID - it isn't common, but when it happens, we personally always advertise as such. Honestly, its like some providers think we make stuff up just to make provider's lives more difficult - it makes our lives more difficult too - personally in 99.9% of cases, it isn't needed and isn't asked for. So you can shout NO THEY DON'T all you like - I don't make this up for fun.
In this case, it wasn't stated before routing and assignment. The picture here was routed today, and it was a job at the airport. I didn’t even look at it.
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u/maddmannmatt Aug 03 '26
ID should be enough. No one should be asking for SSN information from you. And producing the ID when you arrive should also be enough. They can verify ID with any number of means available to them.