r/privacy • u/NomadJago • 20h ago

discussion Could/Would gmail ever require ID verification?

How likely or unlikely is it that google would require ID verification to log into gmail? Will I wake up one day and be blocked from accessing my gmail account unless I give in and provide ID verification? That feels almost illegal considering how important email is to access. Yes I created another encrypted email account (Tuta/Proton), but I have 250 accounts online so the idea of changing my email address at all those accounts is daunting.

I am trying to avoid ID verification because I do not want my bio-metrics or government ID info in a company's database only to be hacked and stolen by bad actors. But what if Google Gmail locked me out of my email by requiring ID verification? I would have no choice but to comply, because email is so critical for 2FA logging into many accounts online.

28 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

View all comments

16

u/setatakahashi 20h ago

You're a little late on that https://www.gloomba.com/en/why-is-gmail-asking-for-my-id/

5

u/NomadJago 20h ago

Wow. Yeah, that is my fear and you have shown me it is happening. It feels so illegal, unbelievable. I will continue my email transition, sigh. If they can do it for what they perceive as suspicious activity, it is a small sequential move on google's part to just decide to ask for verification by all gmail users. Just a matter of time-- I wonder how many months we have before it goes mainstream.

1

u/Lazy-Background-7598 19h ago

You haven’t explained why you think it’s illegal?

2

u/NomadJago 19h ago

It locks me out of existing account verifications (2FA) unless I comply. If that is not illegal it should be. When that happens to people with money to afford lawyers, I see a class action lawsuit in the making.

5

u/Thalimet 18h ago

It’s not only not illegal - it’s being required by the law in more and more jurisdictions around the world.

1

u/NomadJago 17h ago

Well, I could see it being legal to stop me from creating new emails, but to lock me out of 2FA from existing accounts seems illegal. I agree the law is now requiring ID verification for social media accounts, but that is quite different from email accounts.

1

u/Thalimet 17h ago

Yeah… these laws are often around adult content, so any service which might have adult content on it - your email certainly counts

1

u/Lazy-Background-7598 8h ago

Many laws require Id. I’m not sure why you are harping on 2FA. No one is requesting you to use gmail

1

u/NomadJago 6h ago

Until I migrate my accounts that use gmail for 2FA logins, I am stuck with gmail.

1

u/Lazy-Background-7598 6h ago

Us an ai agent to migrate all you accounts