New ID policy with photo of personal identification.

[greg-huber]

How do you feel about photographing your own ID for UpWork? The directions for taking pics of your ID sounds like Dark Web choreography for forgers. If you do it UpWork will have all the documentation to clone your identity: Name, Address, Telephone #, SS#, bank or Paypal info, and now a perfect copy of your driver's license or passport. My advice is that you ask yourself WHY? There must be a lot of fraud going on this platform. I am going to leave. **edited for Community Guidelines**  Oh yeah, if you don't conform they'll freeze your funds. **edited for Community Guidelines**

[2a05aa63]

Because that's the only thing that can verify that you aren't a non existent person.

[AveryO]

Hi Greg, 

I understand how this experiencing can be concerning for you. I would like to clarify that on Section 1.6 Identity and Location Verification of the Upwork User Agreement it says that - 

"When you register for an Account and from time to time thereafter, your Account will be subject to verification, including, but not limited to, validation against third-party databases or the verification of one or more official government or legal documents that confirm your identity, your location, and your ability to act on behalf of your business on Upwork... When requested, you must timely provide us with complete information about yourself and your business, which includes, but is not limited to, providing official government or legal documents."

In this help article, we have stated that the information on any of the documents you submit should match the information on your Upwork profile. As such, we will need to be able to confidently match the identity documents you have submitted with the information on your Upwork profile.

To protect your personal information, access to the information you submit to Upwork to verify your identity is stored by Upwork, per our security policy. Upwork agents comply with our privacy policy and the third-party vendor that handles these requests does not store any identifiable data. We do not sell any of the information you submit to us. After 30 days, the image you submit to verify your identity is deleted.

Our goal is to simply ensure the identity and information provided by a user are accurate, and that Upwork is being used in the way it is intended.

[prestonhunter]

re: "How do you feel about photographing your own ID for UpWork?"

I'm fine with it. I already did it. It wasn't a big deal.

re: "If you do it UpWork will have all the documentation to clone your identity"

That is not their business model.

[resultsassoc]

Greg,

Not only is that not their business model, but the majority of freelancers are seeking clients through internet boards because they have few alternatives. Freelancers are poor targets for identity theft because nearly every one of them is broke, and accepts jobs that pay so poorly that it's not worth the effort to steal your earnings, let alone your identity.

There are a few freelancers who make a decent living - Petra is one, Wendy is another, as is Pete Gerardo, who I think has left the platform. I supported myself and my family for 15 years as a freelance management consultant, but nearly every one of my clients is referral or word of mouth. That took years to establish. In the interim, keep plugging away. I'm 95% retired now.