I have all of password, 2FA, e-mail and PGP enabled and available. In an attempt to raise the issue, I uploaded images with text explaining as much and requesting them to reopen the account without ID documents. (FWIW this would be the first time I supply any such documents to FB).
They just replied saying: "We can’t give you access to this account or help with your request until we receive an accepted form of ID that matches the information listed on the account. Learn more about the types of ID we accept in the Help Center: https://www.facebook.com/help/159096464162185"
Supposedly the data is stored up to 1 year and may be shared with third-parties in the process. Not ideal.
Has anyone else in this situation been able to get around the need of providing them with photo ID?
(inb4 yes, good riddance and all, but would be nice to inform people of other channels before sunsetting)
When I signed up for FB account many years ago there was no requirement for the account to provide real details about myself, and indeed everyone was using pseudonyms (at least in my circles). And it was OK, since we all knew who is who and we did not need FB to know who is who (I guess they still could link bits of information and fingerprints of our browsers to learn our real identities).
I'll give you the talk I would if we were face to face. I edited this a bit after posting, to mimic the feeling of going back and forth a bit to clarify points:
I signed up my freshman year, right before the wall and before it opened up to non college students and was a member until the Trump administration. (They count your friends as foreign contacts, so I told them: join the Shin Bet or BND or whatever if you want, I am that offended, these traitors don't have my protection anymore, I am going home to Appalachia, do whatever you want to them.)
One of my todos after I can rest a bit (COVID has been busy for a hacker like me) is to stand up a simple static blog on the domain tied to my username, but every time I try to draft what would be the first blog post, I get side tracked dealing with the drama that was stirred up by my security research.
So yeah, I'd just... move on.
I relaxed my anonymity stance and uploaded an ID to Twitter to try to get a harassment issue solved, all that happened is they refused to handle the issue, then I continued to suffer electronic and physical attacks.
Buy a domain name for your favorite handle, and be ready to use it to point people at new social networks or comms methods, these tech companies will just boot you off before the new owner or new idea comes in after enriching themselves on your data.
So far I've had excellent experiences with Gandi, Digital Ocean, and Namecheap, but they're IT companies in the full sense of the word, not a place like say, SquareSpace that markets to folks needing a GUI, so if you're not a strong full stack developer.
Also, I deleted my Facebook and forgot my takeout password, so forgive me if this is a stupid qustion, but can you at least do the takeout?
I had phone numbers for the real friends back when I signed up, but nowadays a lot of folks seem to stick to these platforms and get weird if you suggest just sticking to text and calls, or Signal if you want to use the data plan / wifi to avoid using bandwith or minutes or whatever.
Though I think that may be a cultural thing -- I meet younger people who are very used to blocking, unblocking, routing around blocks etc, so my attitude of "If I block you, it's forever, call an embassy is you have an issue" pissed some old contacts off when COVID showed them how deadly serious I was about that.
For context, I have not left the USA since the Obama administration, and when Biden took over, all that happened is the folks who had been temporary allies all attempted to hurt me at once, as local party officials refused to answer my calls for help.
Blue lives matter fascists can talk like Redditors about "did you report it" all they want -- they will literally riot outside the mayor's house if you show up and talk like a Redditor in response to someone telling a hotline "I'm not suicidal, I'm homicidal, this goddamn pedophile in the South Hills won't stop calling me, and I need to keep the line open since they're the caregiver for my father".
TL;DR: Just move on. Giving them ID will probably just hurt you -- it allows them to verify their identity algorithms, then they can kick you off like they always intended.