I tried to pay for Google Photos storage and Google suspended my account, requiring a government-issued photo ID for me to continue using it.

Perhaps it is standard procedure and I'm freaking out over nothing, but this feels alien and unusual to me. That some software company like Google is forcing me to provide a photo ID in order to continue using simple services like online storage raises my hackles.

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I know I could just stop using it, which is my likely course of action, but why isn't just my credit card enough? It can't be legally necessary to require a photo ID …

account google government id pay photos privacy storage