FB does indeed ask for some pretty personal stuff. Here's my story:
Years ago a friend of mine wanted to change her name back to her "real" name on Facebook. Let me explain - She actually used to change it quite a bit. She was playing Farmville (remember that?) She had all kind of "fake" names - Farmer Betty, Farmer Girl, etc., because she had so many strangers on her FB playing the game and didn't want them knowing her real identity. When the Farmville game craze finally died off, she deleted the strangers and wanted to go back to her actual real name. FB wouldn't let her. They said you were allowed like maybe 5 name changes and then you were stuck.
She didn't want to open a new account so here's what she had to do. FB had her send a copy of her driver's license. They told her it was fine to block out the number on it but they needed to see a picture ID in order to change her name back. I was surprised they actually did that.
Again, this was years ago...so I did some digging on FB's help center page and they still do this. Not sure I can post a link to FB so here's a copy/paste of the page.
Google "facebook help 159096464162185" to get the page to see for yourself.
Here's what it says:
What types of ID does Facebook accept?
If you need to confirm your name on Facebook, or if you've lost access to your account, you may be asked to send us a copy of something with your name on it. You have several different options for this, including photo IDs issued by the government, IDs from non-government organizations, official certificates or licenses that include your name or other physical items like a magazine subscription or a piece of mail.
Any time you send us something that confirms your name or identity, please cover up any personal information we don't need to see (ex: credit card number, Social Security number). Also keep in mind that we encrypt everyone's connection to Facebook by default and delete anything that you've sent to us after we've confirmed your name or identity.
Learn more about how Facebook protects the
privacy and security of your information when you submit an ID.
Group One
You can send us one of the items from group one to confirm your name or get back into your account. Anything that you send us should contain either your name and date of birth or your name and photo.
- Birth certificate
- Driver's license
- Passport
- Marriage certificate
- Official name change paperwork
- Personal or vehicle insurance card
- Non-driver's government ID (ex: disability, SNAP card, national ID card, pension card)
- Green card, residence permit or immigration papers
- Tribal identification or status card
- Voter ID card
- Family certificate
- Visa
- National age card
- Immigration registration card
- Tax identification card
Group Two
If you don't have anything from group one, you can send us two different items from group two. The name on the items that you send us should be the same name that you want to show on your profile.
Keep in mind that if you've lost access to your account, you may be asked to provide something from the list that also shows a photo or date of birth that matches the details on your Facebook account. This extra precaution is so that we can make sure that the only one with access to your account is you.
- Bank statement
- Transit card
- Check
- Credit card
- Employment verification
- Library card
- Mail
- Magazine subscription stub
- Medical record
- Membership ID (ex: pension card, union membership, work ID, professional ID)
- Paycheck stub
- Permit
- School ID card
- School record
- Social Security card
- Utility bill
- Yearbook photo (actual scan or photograph of the page in your yearbook)
- Company loyalty card
- Contract
- Family registry
- Diploma
- Religious documents
- Certificate of registration for accreditation or professional
- Professional license card
- Polling card
- Health insurance
- Address proof card
- Social welfare card
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