[disclosure]

Just got this myself too and my first thought was it has to be a scam. Submitting photo ID online is rather unusual for hosting company to ask for. DO does appear to be less favorable now given the level of verification they need. I wonder if this applies to most DO users though.

[Sent to support] Earlier today, I received a support ticket from DigitialOcean with the message below asking for government issued ID. This is an unusual request for hosting company. Can you confirm this? --- ATTACHED MESSAGE BELOW --- To help us verify your identity, please send us a scan of your government-issued photo ID or passport to [e-mail] with this ticket's ID in the subject, example: "Ticket #XXXXXX". Once you have sent that please let us know by replying to this ticket.

[Response from DO] We ask for IDs for accounts that have been flagged during verification. We apologize if it appears abnormal but we take abuse very seriously Alex