Do you send pictures of your ID/DL to game companies?

blamo2000

My wife and I got into an argument about this and I asked my sisters and one guy at work and they all seem to think I am wrong and being stubborn.  I honestly believe I am completely right.

The guy I talked to at work is way younger than I am.  I think mid to late 20s. 

The first incident was with Funcom.  I made some purchases for AO, moved to AoC a couple months later, made some more purchases over about a week.  Then they froze my account.  They wouldn’t open it again until I sent them pictures of my Driver’s License and Credit Card.  I told them I never agreed to any of this nonsense and I don’t do free work to give corporations my money.  My account is still closed with them.

A year or so goes by.  My daughter is playing a game from a different company.  Occasionally she asks if she can buy something.  I put in the info to get the shit that buys her shit and they freeze the account.  They won’t open it until I send them pictures of my DL and CC.  There is zero chance I am doing this.  I’m fine walking away.  My daughter runs to my wife and asks for her info – my wife sends her back to me – more events, I’m being yelled at to just do it.  I refuse, and have to hide my wallet when I’m at home and I’m the bad guy and a huge jerk, etc.

I tried working with this company.  My phone ID shows my name so I can call them, and unless I am some sort of evil genius I don’t see me fraudulently faking all the millions of ways to verify someone just so I can buy $9.99 worth of gems for a kid’s game. 

 

Notice how I am not naming the game.  That is because my wife thinks this information will lead all the perverts to play it to hunt down my daughter, like no one knows it’s a kids game that kids play.  Yet, taking pictures of very sensitive information and emailing it to corporations, like all the info on my ID that they don’t have, is no big deal and just fantastic and not weird at all.  And I’m the crazy one

Am I crazy for not wanting to and refusing to send pictures of my ID to corporations so I can spend my own money on them?  There is millions of ways to verify people that do not include sending pictures of sensitive information I want as private as possible.  So far, I’m the crazy one for refusing to send this per everyone I talked to.  I’m not unwilling to be verified.  I’m just unwilling to be verified this specific way.  I’m not ungrateful for corporations trying to protect themselves and myself from account fraud.  I just don’t think this requires me to send in pictures of information I find to be sensitive and I don’t want corporations to have.  And its fucking weird.  Very Orwellian.  I don’t have an issue with any other major businesses and buying shit from them.  Only game companies want pictures of me and my DL. 

Lastly, their request assumes I have a cell phone or some other easy way to take pictures and email them easily.  Is this now a requirement to play games on a computer?   It doesn’t matter that most people have cell phones.  How is having this policy not discriminatory to those who do not for whatever reason?  Its ridiculous.

 

I’m guessing most of the younger people on this site don’t see this as a big deal.  But I just need one person to say I’m not crazy.  Am I the only person who is unwilling to bow down to ridiculous, intrusive, and unnecessary demands from these game company pricks?  Or the only one who thinks sending pictures of my DL and CC is total insanity?