Oppose Online ID Checks That Turn Victims Into Suspects

Oppose any legislation that expands online identity verification requirements. The Amanda Smith case shows exactly why: a Pennsylvania woman now faces up to six years in prison for a Facebook Marketplace scam she did not commit, because a fraudster opened a Cash App account using her stolen Social Security number and date of birth. The identity check that was supposed to stop fraud is what pinned it on her. This is the built-in failure of Know Your Customer rules. Every service that collects a Social Security number is another place for it to leak. Smith believes her number was exposed in the National Public Data breach, which in 2024 compromised Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth, phone numbers, and addresses for millions of people. The KYC check Cash App ran matched her data to the account. It did not establish that she ever touched it. When she asked Cash App to see the account, the company refused because she could not prove she owned it. The only way to access her own data was through criminal discovery. Her investigator put it plainly: the system confuses identifying a name with establishing that a person actually controlled an account. Every new ID mandate schedules the next breach and the next wrongful arrest. Vote against expanding these requirements.