ID.me review: Privacy data warning! ID.ME forced consent for credit agencies etc

I truly believe former Army Ranger and Harvard business school graduate Mr Hall, started this company with the best idea of serving military families, such as myself, however This failure in the identity verification process—caused by ID.me’s refusal to offer an alternative to credit bureau consent—has cost me far more than a missed deadline.
I lost legal ownership of a federal trademark that I’ve held and maintained since 2016. That mark, isn’t just a business name—it’s a tribute to my family, my late son, and our mission of service. It represents a legacy built in the face of grief, resilience, and hard work. The loss of that mark is a loss of legal protection, business continuity, and deeply personal meaning.
I did everything right. I have a valid U.S. passport, an active USPTO account, and a verified ID.me profile that I’ve used for years. But I was caught in a digital trap—an impossible loop where I was told I could verify in person or via video, but was then blocked unless I gave consent to share my personal data with credit bureaus that have a history of massive breaches.
This flawed and coercive system denied me access to a service I had every legal and moral right to use. It has caused me financial loss, emotional stress, and deep anxiety about the security of my personal data.
This was not a missed deadline—it was a systemic failure that put me in an impossible position. And the consequences have been real and lasting.
I am filing this complaint to formally bring public awareness to the needless data breach risk policy enforced by ID.me and the related federal agencies that require applicants—to needlessly consent to credit reporting agency data access before being allowed to schedule a simple identity verification appointment or to notify your intended government agency that yes your ID matches their records.

Despite having a valid and active ID.me account for years, and being a USPTO account holder since 2016, I have now been locked out of completing essential federal procedures because I refuse to risk the exposure of my personal information to private credit bureaus.

I. Why This Requirement Is Harmful and Unnecessary
Even when I attempted to verify my identity in person or via live video chat, the system forced me to agree to share data with credit reporting agencies—just to schedule the appointment. This policy is not only invasive but creates a harmful and unnecessary barrier, especially when individuals are already uploading secure government documents like:
    •    A newly renewed U.S. Passport
    •    State-Issued Driver’s License
    •    Social Security Number
    •    Address & personal records already on file with federal agencies
This is not a credit application. This is an identity verification process tied to government-required filings, and it should not require private-sector credit monitoring entanglements.

II. Real-World Harm Caused by This Catch-22
This unfair and coercive requirement has caused me significant and irreparable harm. As a direct result of being unable to proceed without consenting to credit data sharing:
    •    I have lost legal protection of a family trademark under the USPTO.
    •    That trademark has been registered and maintained since 2016 and represents a family namesake, nonprofit initiatives, and a business built in memory of my late child.
    •    Despite timely action on my part, the USPTO did not accept my renewal due to delayed verification—even after I provided notarized ID forms and government documents.
    •    I now face the risk that third parties could seize my mark, which represents years of work, family legacy, and emotional investment.
    •    This has caused great stress, anxiety, harm, and loss.
I was placed in a no-win situation: either compromise my personal data privacy with credit bureaus—or lose everything I’ve worked to build.

III. Data Breach History Makes This Policy Even More Dangerous
The three major credit bureaus have suffered massive data breaches in recent years:
    •    Equifax (2017): 147 million Americans exposed—SSNs, names, addresses, driver’s license numbers.
    •    Experian (2020): Tens of millions affected by a breach of deeply personal data.
    •    TransUnion (2022): International breach compromising millions of records.
These are not minor incidents. Yet ID.me forces Americans to expose themselves to these same institutions—even when they're not seeking any form of credit or financial service.

Again, I believe the owners are creators of ID.me hit the best of intentions, but it will seem that in some years is evolved into unnecessary risk. When I initially signed up for ID.me there was no mention, and I had no knowledge that it required you give consent for them to share your most personal guarded information with various affiliates or credit monitoring agencies. I think a good majority of us would not have signed up if they made that information easily known. I don’t remember ever giving consent for this in prior years. There’s too much information sharing going on in our country and we have no protections, especially as a military family. We were during the pandemic gained a necessity and this had to be in Asia. So imagine the fear of our information being easily shared and we don’t have the ability to regularly monitor our credit maybe as we would if we were at home or if I myself wasn’t battling cancer, etc. I certainly hope that the company will Reconsider And stop sharing our information. It sounds very nice when the company says we don’t share without your consent. But what they don’t tell you is that unless you click consent you just given up all your information to ID.me for no reason because they are not going to help you and they are not going to verify your information to government agencies such as the trade in patent office. This isn’t fair and it’s not necessary. I know at least the original owner was a military man himself and I hope he reads this and reconsider it. It’s not necessary as this is not an application that requires a credit check and it is not necessary for this company to use credit monitoring agencies to verify our information in that ID.me has the most credible and up-to-date information and that they have my newly renewed US passport, uploaded screenshot photos of me and my ID picture and to be factual, I was actually trying to set up an appointment to have a in person or live video appointment. But unfortunately, even though it tells you if you don’t wanna go through the online process of uploading your information, you can do a video or in some cases in person. Problem is you cannot upload any documents or fill out any forms on the government site until you have the verification from ID.me or unless you mail it in and the government warned you it’s gonna take forever For us to receive that. I’ve been trying for more than a year to get past this process. This is unnecessary stress when all I’m trying to do is in a way of making the loss of my child to Cancer not in vain and then trying to help other people say their children.

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