Is this not a reasonable form of ID?

Back in June 2022, Facebook decided that my (vestigial) personal Facebook account would no longer be permitted to admin the DNA Lounge page unless I uploaded a photo of my ID. So I sent them this:

Things started working again about a month after that, but today -- nine months later -- they rejected it:

Do you think it's because the edges aren't clearly visible? Or do you think it's because, in the intervening nine months, the license has expired?

I understand that Facebook got some bad news today, and gosh, I'm all broken up over it.

In I-think-unrelated news, Instagram has suspended the DNA Lounge account again, and I again have no idea why. They're asking for yet another kidnapping-victim proof-of-life selfie.

Devon sent another one. He wore pants this time. Last time it took a week for them to get around to looking at it.

Note that our account "doesn't follow our Community Guidelines", but that our account can be brought back into compliance not with a change of behavior, but with a sexy selfie whose hand has the right number of fingers on it. For the second time in three weeks.

Sure, that makes all kinds of sense. Just give us a lock of your hair and we're good, all is forgiven, carry on.

Incidentally, do you know of a supplier of "novelty" IDs who won't sell my credit card to a Moldovan bot farm? Asking for a friend, pictured above.


Update: Well that was faster. Last time it took 5 days, but this time took only 2. And in an unexpectedly forthright display, they actually admitted fault --

Still passive voice, of course. "Mistakes were made." And still no indication of what led to these "mistakes" or how to avoid them in the future, or why the same "mistake" was made twice in three weeks, or even any way to ask. (They say "please let us know" but do so from a "no-reply' email address, as is traditional.)

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15 Responses:

  1. CSL3 says:
    2

    Clearly, FB's preferred spy series is xXx with Vin Diesel.

  2. blindcoder says:
    4

    I do know of https://digitalcourage.de/digitale-selbstverteidigung/der-lichtbildausweis-mit-wunschdaten which is a german privacy advocacy group selling "nichtamtliche Lichtbildausweise" (non-governmental picture ID) where you can add whatever information you want.

  3. rand says:
    2

    Disclaimer: I use neither Facebook nor Instagram.

    I guess I would take a higher resolution picture, not turned, using flat-bed scanner, with a dark background as written, of a card which is not expired, with a recent passport photo.

    In times of broken authentication systems, I would advise you to not make those card pictures public.

    If nothing works, spend man hours on the support (telephone) line.

    • jwz says:
      19

      It is adorable that you think that Facebook can be contacted by telephone.

      • anonymous says:
        14

        It's not that difficult to contact them by phone.

        Write a note, tie it to one of the old bakelite Western Electric rotary phones, and hurl it through the window of 1 Hacker Way with great force. Depending on landscaping and setbacks from the street you may find it helpful to use a small siege engine like a trebuchet.

  4. thielges says:
    9

    Well of course they tagged that ID as suspect because there’s no way a guy who owns several beer taps and a pizzeria weighs just 140 pounds.  

  5. Jeff Bell says:
    6

    They figured out that you are Jason Bourne, and can't take that risk.

  6. nooj says:

    I'm imagining Devon with pants on his head like a jester's cap doing his best drunk selfie!

  7. Halsey Taylor says:
    2

    I gotta wonder: Why Facebook? Why Instagram? Jamie, you're a brilliant guy and you can do it better than those intellectual pygmies.

  8. nfd says:

    only tangentially related: why is it that every damn ID out there apparently is built to be handled with clean hands and stored in archival conditions, and will aggressively delaminate itself apart if you have the temerity to keep it in your pocket? i feel like this is one of those problems that society probably should've solved by now.

    if that's irritating anyone else who happens by, swab the lifted bits with alcohol to get the pocket grup out and you can probably tack the corners down with a dab of clear nail topcoat

    • prefetch says:

      Oh, it's definitely solved, but sadly is manifesting here as one of the many economic 'race-to-the-bottom' side-effects. User has to pay for a replacement, so the line remains pleased. Some solutions:

      • Trading card protector
      • Lamination
      • Epoxy coat
  9. グレェ「grey」 says:

    "Incidentally, do you know of a supplier of "novelty" IDs who won't sell my credit card to a Moldovan bot farm? Asking for a friend, pictured above."

    If you appreciate Laibach, this may be a possibility? https://passport.nsk.si/en/how_to_get_an_NSK_passport

    A friend got one of their passports years ago, it was awesome! I have been tempted to follow suit, but I haven't even renewed my US passport since it expired in 2014, and my priority for a novelty passport is even lower.

  10. prefetch says:

    Sounds like someone ordered a data set refresh. This is a perfect use case for image-generating 'AI's; sadly, the results from the online Stable Diffusion demos are terrible (though if anyone needs a caifforncon or calioriierinan lciric, you're set).

    On the plus side, with all these tech company lay-offs, now is a silver-platter opportunity to set up the next big dev shop. So much insider information, just begging to be scooped up...

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