Yes.....

I have no problem faxing my ID. Almost all mainstream hosts now require you to fax the ID.

funny i've used 20 hosts, & never once got asked for such a thing

do i need to show my ID to buy a bottle of water at a gas station?

this shits stupid

webair requires that bullshit, btw

When? 2 or 3 years ago thery were not doing it. Now almost all are doing it, its common practice now.

If you buy hosting for anything over 1k/m they ask for ID.

What if you buy cigs and beer with the water, do you need to show ID? Yes.

I dont understand what the big deal is showing your ID.

What if someone stold your CC and used it for hosting? Wouldnt you want that host to ask for ID?

Then the cc would not match the whois info on the domain they are using the stolen cc to pay, which should be a nice red flag.

u do not understand the risk in faxing your cc info AND personal info to a non-secure fax machine?

really??

Non-secure fax machines,..give me a break. You dont have to use fax. There is always the option of scanning it and sending it encrypted via email.

name one hosting comapny that provides tht please, not to mention how the fuck ya send an encryped email
moreover, there are billions of dollars transacted on the web yearly and NONE of that needs anyone to fax anything in, let alon make a fuckin scan and encryp it and email, gimme fuckin break

Guys... come on. Speaking as a host, it's not that unreasonable of a request. I'm not saying that I regularly ask for such things but you have to remember that sometimes we get people asking for service that raise a number of red flags. I am of the belief that it is in the best interests of every hosting company to know it's clients if for any other reason than to protect their other clients from the trouble that some people cause. At the end of the day your host is someone that you need to develop a trust relationship with, I think - just like your banker, lawyer, accountant. I know there are many of you that disagree and like anonimity - I'm just coming from the perspective of being active and involved with my clients and always looking out for their best interests.

Brad

Well, maybe they should start doing it.

I go to buy cigs from the same store and the fucker asks me for ID everytime even though she saw me the other day, lol. I understand why she does it, its to protect themselfs. Its a little irritating, yes, but so what? If you dont want a host that asks for id then fine. Im saying, i dont have a problem with it.

there is NO such thing as looking out for the best interest of a client by having them fax cc and personal info to the general office fax machine, come on man,

millions of dollars get transacted everyday on the internet without having to do something as risky as sending that info to the office fax machine

that is because it is against the law to sell cigs to minors, you are comparing apples to oranges

We're both reasonably intelligent people. So let me explain the areas for corruption inherent with collecting personal identification.

Case #1 - The data is stored locally & the office building is broken into.

Case #2 - The fax/or data is not destroyed properly & is found in a dumpster.

Case #3 - Some 18yo the company just hired decides to take the scan home to make his friend a fake ID....you just happen to look like Johnny Miller.

Case #4 - The hosting company is owned by criminals, who use your personal information to setup several credit accounts, cell phone plans etc. And by the time you recieve a credit report 6 months later you're fucked, with a capital F.

And i'm a big fan of personal privacy. As far as i'm concerned a phone call from a land based line with functioning caller ID is good enough.

If a hosting company considers the bandwidth you "might" burn as "credit" then they need to be JUST AS secure as a credit company. And i can tell you from personal experience, they aren't.

.. aside from the fact that that store owner doesn't make and keep a copy of the shown ID ... :1orglaugh

once again you totally prove my points!:thumbsup :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

post of the day, end of discussion:thumbsup

No... my hoster knows me. And I reccomend him/them/they. Not in sig? Hit me if you want detailz.

5 Years ago - Yeh, sure.
2006 - No thanks.

Cumon Brad! :winkwink:

I know you like to know all your clients "to protect their other clients", but a net business is not exactly a bank and "know your customer" to the level of personal ID's was never a requirement to be a host. Ya want a bank statement next? :)

Na my man, - you don't have to develop any trust with clients - it's the client who has to have some trust in the host since they are probably far more at risk financially. To develop such trust, perhaps the host can provide personal ID's of their staff?? :winkwink:

And, believe me... a host sure as hell is not a lawyer, banker or accountant. They have professional guidelines to follow.

Flip side, yea, totally agree with a decent relationship with anyone you do biz with, but a DNA test is not one of them.


PS The above not only applies to hosting, but to every damned service, sponsor, third party processor and their dogs. Webmasters have a lot more to lose if a sponsor, processor or host screws up. Can I have a sperm count, a DNA test and a copy of your passport, ID, latest bank statements? Thanks! :winkwink:

as long as you have the 3 digits of the back of your cc....wtf do they need any more info....next they will want ID, Passport, voters reg and a SS Card.....intrusive bastards....:(

I don't think so.. :)

Sure why not, you show your id at the store. What's the big deal?

We have had a few fraudulent credit card attempts to purchase hosting from us. Fraud control is easy enough without resorting to requiring a faxed photo ID.

I would not know if it was you or not.

had to send in my id scan when I wanted SSH for webair

There are other ways to protect against fraud, let alone the fact
that you can hardly trust a scanned copy.

If I am going to trust my business with them, I should be able to trust them with my ID.

DH

That may be a North American custom chaze, but sure it not the case in other countries. Folks don't carry "ID's" around - that's what the credit card is for, and anyways, many countries don't even have "Photo ID's" as such and are strongly opposed to the idea.

Web air guys Web air
Over 24 hrs since my first email sent stating

Like what ??????????????????????????????????????????
Pardon ??????????????????????????

Still no response

Lots of cool interesting replies and i must admit. They all go the way i think.
That it's not politicly correct to send this info

If this is going to be the way USA hosting companies will work in the futur, well chow baby

:thumbsup

Brad

I sure did, when I got my hosting setup

I have in the past

I won't send this
First of all it's against my principals !!!!
Second, fucking too risky

I run my business to a higher standard. Most hosts don't ask questions, that is their choice. Anyone who has spent any amount of time with myself or my staff appreciates that their business and any information on file is completely safe with us. If hosting service is nothing more than a commodity to you and your business without any other intrinsic value, perhaps you haven't had the right web host yet! As I stated earlier in the thread, I regularly only collect basic contact information but if I questioned someone's legitimacy I wouldn't hesitate to ask for more information. My instincts are good, this is how I have kept spammers (etc) off my network for four years.

Brad

Glad you didn't get spammers in your thingo
I've been online for almost 10 years and as someone said earlier, i was there before MAJOR HOSTING COMPANIES WERE BORN

If a sponsor asks for an ID (as it happened only once in 10 years) i turn my back and go away. There is a limit at controlling people and i think it's crossing the limit.

It's your business, run it as you whish

What's next ?
A written contract that i have to bend over twice per year ?

Fabien, maybe you need to look at it in a different way:

With the number of scammers, spammers, and tool bar jammers out there, hosts should be clearly aware of exactly who they are providing services to. If the DoJ or FBI or whoever it is shows up at the hosts door and their entire billing comes back as untracable, don't you think they would look pretty stupid?

Hosting is a contract (even month to month) and even in accepting a credit card or a check, companies need to have confidence in who they are dealing with. It is way to easy to open an account with a fresh stolen credit card, stick a bunch of toolbars or viruses on the account, spam the living shit out of the domain, and then run away after the damage is done with no way for anyone to track you down.

I would think that perhaps the company asking your for the ID has been burned once too often.

Alex

i've never been asked for an ID, i guess because everyone knows me.....so i suppose the same hosts that didn't ask me, might ask you

either way....anything under 1k a month without a contract, shouldn't require an ID imho

Yeah again it's only a small virutal account
A bit pathetic no ?

I know hosts and MOSTLY USA hosts have it in the balls regarding FBI spammers etc....
I can understand that. But it scares the shit out of me to send all my infos to who the fuck is at the other end ? Kinda damn crazy if you ask me.

Those that say "Well they don't know you" Well isn't the same on my end ?

Also keep in mind no established hosting company will ask for this unless some flags come up. Using a proxy to sign up, a free email address, unregistered domain name, there are lots we use for fraud. DWHS.com actually uses a phone call back system for instant activation and run a updating black list of i.p.'s for checking out. This is is good enough 99.9% of the time. Another good one is to ask the user what bank the card is from, you can get this from your merchant account but unless the card was physically stolen they will have a hard time finding this and move on to find a new sucker.

I do agree trust has to met in the middle or even a little more on the business side first.

After all business has to be earned.