Identity Verified badge soon required for all earning freelancers

[Rene K]

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Artyom H wrote:

There is also another thing. Why do Upwork staff think/beleive that all freelancers want that 'Identity verified' badge on their page?

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Upwork wants to know that the person whose picture is on a profile is the person using the profile. For obvious reasons. Since people do sell their profiles to scammers, Upwork wants to conduct not only initial, but random identity verification.

What freelancers want is totally irrelevant here. People who intend to sell their account and people who have bought one definitely don't want to be verified. Upwork has decided otherwise.

I have a hard time imagine any legitimate true reason why one wouldn't want to go through identity verification. We have heard of many excuses, none very convincing. That being said, if someone really doesn't want to go through identity verification for any reason, this is still possible. Internet is immense and there are many freelancing platforms. I'm sure there are platforms without any identity verification requirements out there.

[Monty R]

"...whose picture is on a profile.."?

I've seen dog pictures on profiles, coffee mugs, mountains and trains on profile pictures. So...how will the profile be matched against valid id?

[Artyom H]

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Monty R wrote:

"...whose picture is on a profile.."?

I've seen dog pictures on profiles, coffee mugs, mountains and trains on profile pictures. So...how will the profile be matched against valid id?

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One of the requirements is a video call (if it succeeds, of course). That (I think) will help ensure that the person submitting the id is the same person that is in the video.

[Karen B]

Not to mention that you can change your profile picture (I have several times).  

I understand that people selling their profiles is a problem, but how is verification going to stop that?  What's to keep someone from getting verified, and then selling their profile the next day?

[Artyom H]

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Rene K wrote:

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Upwork wants to know that the person whose picture is on a profile is the person using the profile. For obvious reasons. Since people do sell their profiles to scammers, Upwork wants to conduct not only initial, but random identity verification.

What freelancers want is totally irrelevant here. People who intend to sell their account and people who have bought one definitely don't want to be verified. Upwork has decided otherwise.

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Does that mean that the verification will become a regular thing (such as freelancers to be interviewed when Upwork deems necessary)?

[Jamal Y]

Hi All,

I have been informed that soon I will be asked to verify my ID to get a verivication badge! Well, I don't mind and I have already had the identity verfication video call with upwork team member before, but the problem is that the only accepted ID for my country Egypt is: Passport or VISA!

While I don't have any and I am unable to get any of them, instead I have my Egyptian National ID which contains the needed data but written in Arabic, but why isn't it available as an option?! I don't mind verify my identity anyhow, but you have to make it more easy for freelancers in order not to lose so many top rated freelancers this way.

As I see there are so many Egyptian freelancers on Upwork, and I think most of them will face the same obstacle, then why don't you have a team member who is Arabic native to check the Egyptian IDs and other Arabian IDs for freelancers who cannot provide passports nor VISAs.

I hope you will be more cooperative to help us continue working on your platform, I understand the reasons why you need to verify memebrs, but not all people have passports as you know!

Looking forward to your reply,

Regards,

Jamal

[Bojan S]

Hi Jamal,

Feel free to upload your National ID Card when you're submitting your documents for the Identity Verification Badge. If our team needs any additional information, they will reach out to you directly and guide you further thought this process.

Thank you.

[Jamal Y]

Hi Bojan,

Thank you for your kind reply, however as I have mentioned there is only 2 options for acceptable IDs for my country (Egypt); those are Passport or Visa. There is no option to upload National ID as available for most of other countries!

So how could I upload my National ID?! while there is no option for it!

[Karen B]

Clearly, Upwork hasn't thought this verification requirement through as thoroughly as they ought.  I'm sure Egypt isn't the only country with this problem.  It's probably the same for all the Middle East and most of Asia -- where many of the valuable tech freelancers are located.  Is Upwork really going to freeze all their accounts?  I'm afraid they're going to end up with a very small pool of freelancers to meet the needs of clients.  And then clients are going to start abandoning Upwork and going to other venues -- the venues where their former freelancers have gone.  

[Monty R]

I have no problem with submitting to any rule changes - as that's the prerogative  of the platform owner. But, I believe the overwhelming majority of feedback on this forum confirms that perhaps a re-think is in order. More consultation on how best to accomplish what ever is being aimed?

a) What use is getting additional personal info (like C/SSN, O/PID etc.), and storing them for whatever period, if UpWork can't validate whether those are in fact valid pieces of data from the country they purport to originate from? I, for one, would at least need to know that what I provide won't be taken at "face value" - and that someone will actually use that data to verify it's authenticity 

How? - doing a 3-way match - ID pic-profile pic- video image - won't help remove possibility of fake ID being submitted. So, we need to work together to address that weak link.

b) If the intent is (as some have suggested) to validate profile pic to actual person - why not just mandate a profile picture verification through the video call - although consideration must be given to some of our colleagues here that don't have a cam to conduct such video verification

c) BUT...what if someone's appearence changes (illness, major operation, accident, cosmetic procedures) and they decide to upload a fresh profile picture? Will id verification be mandated (probably for a small fee) each time a profile pic changes?

d) I won't go through the entire "where is this data being stored...which 3rd parties will have access to it...etc...etc" debate. Others have covered it very comprehensively.

Perhaps calling time-out for greater member consultation is in order?