[johnmurch]

HostGator pulled this exact crap with me. I said forget it and moved onto a different host for a client. I am just SHOCKED as it was "policy" for them to have a copy of drivers license/passport and a credit card on file!!!!

[kanamekun]

Hostgator did the same to me too! I also moved onto a different host. Here's the email they sent me when I asked for more info:

Hello, Thank you for your response.

We would like to provide you with an explanation of why we request verification.

If there are any billing discrepancies, missing information, or if the order is selected randomly for fraud prevention, the account is suspended until the verification is complete and an email is sent to the customer asking them to verify the account that they signed up for. We do not obtain anything for marketing purposes and are simply trying to confirm billing details or halt fraudulent accounts. It is our goal to make verification as easy and painless as possible and appreciate your patience.

If you review the Section 1 of our Terms of Service, you will see that we do state that we will continue with the set up of your account after we have received payment and we and/or our payment partner(s) have screened the order(s) in question in case of fraud. Additionally, we do require valid contact information and may terminate an account if none is given, but we prefer to request this information from you up front.

You can review our Terms of Service here: http://www.hostgator.com/tos/tos.php

Here is some more information regarding our Privacy Policy:

http://www.hostgator.com/privacy.shtml

We apologize for any inconveniences that may result from this process. This extra verification is done for your security and to ensure that orders are not duplicitous. The web hosting industry, unfortunately, has a high rate of fraudulent orders, and this sort of verification helps us drastically reduce fraud and ensure our customers remain secure.

If you are unable to verify your account with us or do not wish to proceed with the activation of your account, then no further action needs to be taken on your part. We have only authorized the charges and have never fully received the payment. We do not fully receive the payments until an account has been activated. Since we were unable to verify your account we will not proceed with activating the account.

The initial payment made to us will be reversed with in 48 hours. If you paid with PayPal, the purchase will be refunded automatically at this time. Though, if you paid with a credit card, the authorization reversal will post to your account typically 5-7 business days after that. Depending on the establishment you bank with would determine on how fast you receive the funds. Once we release the payments your bank holds the funds until they are able to fully process the transaction and show the amount that you paid in your account.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards, [Name redacted] Senior Verifications and Fraud Prevention Agent

[josefresco]

HG is generally pretty good, I've been a customer for over 5 years. It sounds like your transaction was flagged which is why they needed more information. I do find it funny/ironic that their "fraud protection" system for billing then raised another issue of ... fraud protection for you as a customer.

[arjie]

Hetzner required passport and some other stuff. I caved.

[thejosh]

Nost hosting companies require a drivers license or similar, very few don't anymore.

Softlayer and Hetzner are the two that I remember needing this, both seemed fine with my expired one I scanned ages (2008 or something) ago - I couldn't be bothered scanning my new one.

But really, it might stop some people but it's easy enough to fake it if you really wanted to do something bad.

[TillE]

They don't for customers with a German bank account.