Posts Tagged: verification

Forget Twitter – Gmail is gaining blue verification checkmarks to cut down on ‘phishy’ emails

Twitter’s blue ticks may have lost their credibility now that anyone with $ 8 can sign up for one but Gmail users are set to gain verified status in a bid to show if a sender is “legitimate”. It’s all part of Google’s efforts to cut down on spam and scams so that users can trust […]

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Meta Verified is a paid verification service for Facebook and Instagram

The rumors were true: Facebook parent company Meta is preparing to launch a Twitter Blue-like subscription called Meta Verified. On Sunday morning, Mark Zuckerberg took to his newly launched broadcast channel to share the news. He said the subscription service would give users a blue badge, additional impersonation protection and direct access to customer support. "This feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services," Zuckerberg said, adding Meta would test the subscription first in Australia and New Zealand before rolling it out to other countries. Meta Verified will cost $ 15 USD per month when users subscribe through the company's apps on iOS and Android. On the web, where app store commissions don't apply, the service will cost $ 12 USD per month. The subscription will cover both Instagram and Facebook accounts. 

Users will need need to meet certain eligibility requirements before they can sign up for Meta Verified. Specifically, the company told Engadget the subscription will only be available to users 18 years or older. Meta will also require that potential subscribers share a government-issued ID that matches the profile name and photo on their Facebook or Instagram account. Once you're verified, you can't change your profile name, username, date of birth or photo without going through the verification process again. Accounts that were verified before today's announcement due to their notability will remain verified.

Alongside perks like a blue badge and increased visibility in search, Meta will provide Verified subscribers with 100 free stars, a digital currency they can use to tip creators on Facebook. The subscription also comes with access to exclusive stickers for use in Stories and Reels. Rumors that Meta was preparing to trial a paid verification service started to swirl at the beginning of February when reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi discovered code referencing "paid blue badge" and "identity verification." On early Sunday morning, social media consultant and former Next Web reporter Matt Navarra found that Meta had published an Instagram support page detailing the subscription, only to later take it down before Zuckerberg's Instagram post.    

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

This browser extension tells you who paid for Twitter verification

Twitter verification is now just $ 8 away, but that doesn’t mean the social network has democratized its long-standing status symbol entirely. The Twitter verification badge is now split between two different groups: accounts that were officially verified for being “notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category,” and accounts that paid for the checkmark by being subscribed to Twitter Blue. But it can be difficult to tell the difference between the two types of verified accounts without clicking into their individual profiles, which is why one Twitter user created a tool to make it a lot easier.

Introducing Eight Dollars, a simple browser extension that swaps out Twitter’s standard verification badge for two different labels that spell out if an account is “actually verified” or if it “paid for verification.” Without the extension, you’d need to click on a user’s profile, and then tap on the verification checkmark to determine if the user’s check was approved by Twitter staff or purchased through Twitter Blue, but Eight Dollars makes that information available directly in your timeline.

The extension was originally only available for Chrome, but New Zealand designer Walter Lim says it should work with Microsoft Edge as well as Firefox, and he’s also added Safari to his to-do list. Installing any of them will take a little extra work: the add-on is currently only available on GitHub, and needs to be installed manually using the browser’s developer mode. Even so, it could be worth the effort — unless you like being fooled by hackneyed scam accounts and impersonators.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Apple pulls verification requirement for US education shoppers

Earlier this week, Apple began requiring that students and teachers in the US verify their identity through authentication service UNiDAYS before they could take advantage of the company’s discounted education pricing. The move closed a long-standing loophole that had allowed almost anyone to save money on an Apple device as long as they weren’t caught in a random check.

However, mere days after implementing that requirement, Apple has just as quickly removed it. Per MacRumors, you can once again buy discounted Macs, iPads and other Apple products from the company’s US education website without the need to verify that you’re currently a student or a teacher. The outlet suggests the company may have made the change after some educators and school staff members complained they couldn’t verify their status through UNiDAYS properly, and therefore couldn’t obtain a discount on a product they wanted to buy.

It’s unclear if Apple plans to reimplement the requirement once it sorts out any potential issues with the system. For years, Apple has used UNiDAYS in many other countries, including the UK, to ensure only those who qualify for its education discounts can get them. We’ve reached out to the company for comment and more information.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Twitch lets streamers require verification before viewers can chat

Twitch might have another way to deter "hate raids" and similar abuse: make it impractical to create a troll account. The livestreaming service has introduced an option that lets streamers and moderators require one-time phone or email verification for chatters. Broadcasters can either require it for everyone or set exemptions based on account age, follow duration or status. A streamer can require verification only for first-timers, for example, or waive the requirement for subscribers and VIPs.

The company will allow as many as five accounts to verify through one phone number for the sake of businesses. However, trolls can't rely on this to evade bans. Twitch will ban every account linked to a phone number if one of them faces a ban, whether it's one channel or across the entire service. You also can't use VOIP or landline numbers

Twitch said it would gauge the impact of verification after launch. It also teased plans for another tool to fight ban evasion in the "coming months."

This might not spook the most determined harassers. They may create new email addresses or borrow phone numbers. It might reduce the dependence on moderators to curb bad behavior, however, and could discourage 'casual' harassment from those who were previously unafraid to lose their accounts. Don't be surprised if you see fewer hit-and-run incidents the next time you're watching a stream.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Twitter tries to fix verification of people ‘we in no way endorse’

Sure, being verified on social media isn't always as good as people think, but after a recent blowup, Twitter says it's addressing the "perception" of endorsement a blue checkmark confers. While the network has notably verified the accounts of self-p…
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