Recently, the AI company Anthropic introduced a mandatory identity verification mechanism for its product Claude, which has sparked widespread discussion and controversy among users. According to Claude's KYC (Know Your Customer) rules, users must take a real-time photo of themselves holding a government-issued ID document, such as a passport, driver's license, or national ID card. It is worth noting that copies, scanned documents, digital IDs, and temporary IDs are not accepted. This verification process is handled by a third-party company called Persona, and it usually takes about five minutes.

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However, many users have found that this identity verification is not a guarantee of continued service, but may instead be a precursor to account suspension. The official FAQ of Claude clearly states that reasons for account suspension include repeated violations of the usage policy, creating an account in unsupported locations, violating the terms of service, and users under 18 years of age using the service. Persona's privacy policy indicates that they may share user data with 17 sub-processors, and this data may be used to improve anti-fraud systems, raising concerns about personal information security among users.

One user, named llm_nerd, shared his experience: His 15-year-old son is a game developer who had subscribed to the Claude Max service and worked on programming projects, earning more than his father. However, due to the system detecting that the account was being used by a minor, it was eventually suspended. Anthropic also sent a refund notice to the user, stating, "We detected that your account was used by a child, which violates our policies."

Interestingly, when asked about this KYC rule, the Claude Opus4.6 model stated that the company already has three layers of protection mechanisms, including credit card verification, behavioral data monitoring, and an AI content review system, and considered static ID photos as the "weakest link" in the security model. Currently, OpenAI and Gemini set the minimum age for use at 13, while Anthropic sets it at 18. Some netizens joked that if the system detects underage users, it could lead to situations where people "use tokens for free under the identity of minors."

Key Points:   

📄 Mandatory Identity Verification: Claude requires users to verify their identity by holding physical documents, causing concerns about privacy and security.  

🚫 Risk of Account Suspension: The phenomenon of accounts being suspended after verification has led many to believe it might be a sign of account suspension.  

👶 Controversy over Age Restrictions: The 18-year-old age limit set by Anthropic has sparked discussions, with users worried about the risk of minors facing account suspensions.