Anthropic Implements Identity Verification for Claude AI Users

Anthropic has implemented a limited identity verification process for users of its Claude AI chatbot to combat fraud and abusive behavior. The system requires affected users to upload a government-issued photo ID and complete a live selfie check for biometric matching and liveness detection.

These checks are triggered during routine platform integrity checks, when users access specific capabilities, or when activity suggests a violation of usage policies or access from unsupported locations. To manage the process, Anthropic partnered with Persona, a third-party verification provider. The company maintains that it serves as the data controller and that the encrypted information will not be used to train AI models or shared for advertising.

The rollout has sparked significant backlash from privacy advocates and social media users, who describe the KYC-style protocols as privacy overreach. Some users have responded by canceling subscriptions or switching to competitors such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. While Anthropic asserts the measures ensure legal compliance and age restrictions, critics cite concerns regarding government surveillance and the historical track record of Persona.