Why Anthropic Is Adding Mandatory Identity Verification to Certain Claude Features Starting July

Anthropic announced that, beginning July 8, 2026, access to certain Claude capabilities will require users to complete identity verification.

Verification will be handled by third‑party Persona Identities; users must provide a valid government‑issued photo ID and a camera‑enabled device, with the process typically taking no more than five minutes. Anthropic says the data will be used solely for identity confirmation to prevent abuse and meet compliance requirements.

This announcement immediately triggered strong user opposition. First, the choice of Persona was criticized because the service is backed by Peter Thiel and previously faced user resistance and a data‑leak incident when Discord attempted to use it for age verification; its ties to Palantir raise additional privacy concerns.

Second, users worry this is only the first step and that verification could later be required for all Claude functions, even for tasks such as code review or vulnerability hunting, effectively binding the entire service to real‑name identity.

Third, many observers connect the move to recent U.S. government pressure on Anthropic to limit the Mythos (also called Fable) model for non‑U.S. users, suggesting the verified features may be those high‑end models subject to export‑control restrictions.

Most paying customers refuse to submit personal ID and are seeking alternatives: some are switching to Zhipu GLM 5.2, noting that European providers offer GDPR‑compliant APIs; others are urging faster development of open‑source models, claiming they are closing the gap with Gemini 3.x and could overtake closed‑source SOTA if enough users migrate.

A minority argue the policy is driven by regulatory pressure rather than Anthropic’s own initiative, but all agree they are willing to pay for the service yet will not provide ID or selfie data.

Open questions remain about the proportion of annual‑plan users who will fail verification, potential refund policies, and how these factors might impact Anthropic’s path toward an IPO.