Credit card is a largely fixed risk of financial loss, with some legal safeguards for recovery, and the ability to get a replacement card with a different number. Passport carries an open long-term risk of impersonation and you can't just get a new passport because some company has a copy. Just the financial side of that risk can have much greater impact. Unless a company has a legal requirement to "know your customer", e.g. a financial institution, this is a red flag.
replyCouldn’t have put it better myself. Even with payment processors, most they ask for is SSN and business EIN.
replyWhen I read about the WireCard scandal, the KYC stuff sent to them over the years is probably in the hands of foreign intelligence already. That’s what gave me pause.
> Unless a company has a legal requirement to "know your customer", e.g. a financial institution, this is a red flag.
replyGermany also has legal KYC requirements for web hosting and most other things relating to telecommunications.
And if those requirements include the need to supply passport information, that's a reason not to host in Germany.
replyWhen many sites are collecting these photos, it increases possibility of them leaking. Since these are also used for KYC process in crypto sites etc, this in turn increases risk of identity theft.
replyI'm a Hetzner user in the US, but I pay for it with PayPal and was never asked to give my passport or identity. Americans are very rarely asked for these documents online, and even then it's typically only for government or financial services. It's also drilled into us that this info can be used for identity theft, so it's only natural to be wary of any non-government entity asking for them.
replyFWIW, if Hetzner had asked for my passport when I signed up, I would not have given it either.
If there isn't a difference shouldn't my credit card be enough?
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