KYC everywhere, what could possibly go wrong
Received the above notice as I decided to login to my LinkedIn account yesterday after many months. Sounds similar to what I saw on my X account 3.5 years ago here, except that the account wasn't actually compromised.
This is the second time a web2 social media platform that asked me for KYC. The first was Facebook after testing this out and that was the only thing I ever did over there that got me banned. This will not be the last one as nearly every country in the world have introduced or are working on their dystopian "online safety" bills that mandates platforms to collect KYC on their users one way or another, and it is no exception over here where the next Hivefest will be held.
For obvious reasons, I will not provide any of this to random sites like these and will not use them if ever asked. Not only we have no clue what they actually do with it (besides what you would expect), they can and will be stolen as they have been in the past.
On the tea app
As for my take on this category of apps in general, please refer to this comment as I will not repeat them here.
This is one of those (non-)hacks that have been in the news last week as millions of photo IDs and DMs of their users were left in the open in an unsecured database. Not only have they doxxed their own users and allowed them to doxx others without their consent, they lied claiming that their KYC info will not be retained as per their privacy policy:
During the registration process, users are required to submit a selfie photo for verification purposes. This photo is securely processed and stored only temporarily and will be deleted immediately following the completion of the verification process.
As more apps are being vibe coded to comply with these ridiculous laws, it is very likely we will see more of this happening over time especially due to the nature of these kinds of apps that care less about security than so-called regulated CEXes which get pwned anyways.
You know where this is going
Combining all this and the fact that more and more companies and governments around the world are pushing their digitization agenda and forcing everyone to install their apps on "approved devices" shows it has nothing to do with safety as they call it, and more to do with surveillance and censorship that ironically makes everyone less safe.
KYC is one of the biggest fears in my life. Particularly because I feel helpless about my ability to control or avoid it.
As a Brit, I always felt a sense of personal freedom compared to many other countries. But recently, I feel that KYC is more insidious here. And I don't know anywhere that is better. Even if I could afford the financial and emotional stress of moving.
What I would really like to do is take the piss out of KYC (OK, spell checker - also KFC 😀). But how to do it?
I remember seeing something recently about people holding up Kier Starmer pictures during KYC sessions. So I'll think about that.
Anyone else got any anti-KYC tips?
!BBH
This one 😁
Yeah it's been quite the talk over the internet lately with the UK leading the front, crazy times ahead, hope the people choose the right path but I'm kind of doubtful at this point.
Good time to build some decentralized alternatives for this stuff.
Only if what @sagarkothari88 said isn't true and the broader industry professionals would use them :\
As for the tea app, maybe PeerVerity could address some of the issues and be less discriminatory, but they currently do not have a working product.
In the bigbasket data breach, just one among many such incidents, my information—along with the data of over 24 million other customers—was exposed. The breach didn’t just include basic KYC details, but also highly sensitive information: full names, phone numbers, dates of birth, all addresses, ordered items, IP addresses, and potentially even raw credit card data, among other things.
This event was a major wake-up call for me. It was a turning point that pushed me toward decentralized social media and web3 platforms. I believed that, as more people experienced these breaches and issues with fake KYCs, awareness would rise, and many would make the shift to web3 for better privacy and control.
Unfortunately, due to a string of crashes and high-profile scams in web3—FTX/SBF being prime examples—that momentum has stalled. Trust in web3 has been eroded, pushing us back to the status quo.
Now, people seem to have given up hope for decentralized solutions and are letting web2 companies continue with questionable practices. Despite everything, I still find myself required to perform KYC on many platforms, with little real choice.
It just feels akin to the adult industry, except that some large institutions are involved. I'm very disappointed that BTC is still not accepted everywhere after 16 years of existence 😢
The word “Bitcoin” immediately grabs attention—people’s ears perk up, their eyes widen. Yet, outside of a few close family members, almost no one around me even knows I’m involved in Web3. And honestly, if they did find out, many wouldn’t hesitate to label me a scammer or a fraud.
It sounds outrageous, I know—but this reaction is rooted in fear. Fear of what they don’t understand, fear of the unknown, and fear shaped by years of media narratives linking crypto to scams and speculation.
In India especially, where trust and traditional finance hold significant sway, Bitcoin and decentralization still feel alien—far removed from daily realities.
Even after 16 years of Bitcoin’s existence, real adoption remains minimal—not because the technology lacks potential, but because perception still dominates conversation more than understanding.
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