The cloud now wants your passport: Here’s what Anthropic does with it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAnthropic has begun asking some cloud users to submit a government-issued photo ID, and in some cases, a live selfie, before accessing certain features on its platform. <\/p>\n
The move, confirmed by the company via a Cloud Support post, establishes Anthropic as one of the first major consumer AI providers to introduce formal identity verification as a gating mechanism for platform capabilities.<\/p>\n
What is the cloud actually asking users to provide?<\/h2>\n
The verification process is handled through Persona Identities, a third-party identity infrastructure provider. Users may be asked to submit a valid government-issued ID, a passport, a driver’s license, a national identity card, or a state ID along with a live selfie taken via phone or webcam. Anthropic says the entire process typically takes less than five minutes.<\/p>\n
The list of what won’t be accepted is quite long: photocopies, screenshots, digital IDs, student cards, employee badges, bank cards and temporary paper IDs are all excluded. Most countries will pass only physical, photographed government documents.<\/p>\n
The data movement process at Anthropic is disclosed through their direct statements. Anthropic can access the verification records without reservation because the records exist on Persona’s system. The company says it uses the images only for its operational needs without making additional copies of the content. <\/p>\n
According to Anthropic’s official statement, the data collected by Anthropic will not form part of its AI model training. “Verification data is used only to confirm who you are and to meet our legal and security obligations,” the company said. The organization said it will not share the data with third parties except for verification purposes and legal compliance purposes.<\/p>\n
The company frames the requirement as a platform integrity measurement rather than a product feature. “Being responsible with powerful technology starts with knowing who is using it,” the Cloud Support post said, citing abuse prevention, usage policy enforcement and legal obligations as primary drivers.<\/p>\n
The verification prompt will not appear for all users in all features. Anthropic describes this as applying to “certain capabilities” and appearing during “routine platform integrity checks.” What specific features trigger the requirement have not been publicly detailed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n