TextNow is committed to ensuring the safety and security of our users. Because of this, we may request some users to verify their identity through our trusted service provider Veriff, when submitting an appeal to regain access to a limited or disabled account.
Why Identity Verification?
By completing identity verification, we can confirm and validate the identity of an account user, helping to mitigate fraudulent attempts to compromise user accounts. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding throughout this process so we can ensure the security of your TextNow account.
Verifying a user's identity also helps us protect all TextNow users from others who may be misusing the platform. This allows us to be sure that anyone attempting to use TextNow for fraudulent activities or anything that violates our Terms of Use is removed from our platform and enables legitimate users to regain access to their accounts more quickly.
What is Veriff?
Veriff is a specialized service provider in identity verification, used by TextNow. To better understand your data privacy during the verification process, we encourage you to review Veriff's privacy policy here for more on how Veriff collects, uses, and protects your data as part of the verification.
The personal information collected as part of this verification process will only be used by TextNow to verify a user’s identity and prevent fraud on our services. To review our privacy practices, you can find our Privacy Policy here.
How to Complete Verification
If you've been asked to complete identity verification, you'll receive an email with a link leading you through the steps outlined below.
- Click on the link to verify your identity in the email you received from hello@mail.textnow.com
- Once you're ready, click the Let's go! button to begin
- Take a photo of the front side of one of the accepted documents (ID card, passport, residence permit, or driver's license)
- Take a photo of the back side of the same document you captured in Step 3
- Take a selfie so Veriff can match you to the identification you've provided
- You will see confirmation whether your information has been submitted successfully
Once you complete these steps TextNow will receive confirmation from Veriff whether the completion of the verification process was successful.
If your identity verification was successful, and we confirm that you are the rightful owner of the account and are not in violation of our Terms of Use, you'll receive an email from us letting you know that your account has been reinstated and you should regain full access.
Do I need to complete Identity Verification to get my account back?
If you choose to opt out of the identity verification process, you can wait for your appeal to go through the standard process which may require a manual review. Completing identity verification through Veriff will enable us to get you back into your account more quickly, but it is not mandatory.
How can I delete my data?
If you want to have your data deleted, you'll need to delete your TextNow account to ensure that personal information submitted to Veriff and other data tied to the account is removed. For more information and steps on how to delete your TextNow account and data, please visit this article.
Biometric Information Notice:
As part of the verification process, TextNow, Inc. ("we", "us", or "TextNow") engaged a third party service provider called Veriff OÜ’s (“Veriff” or "Service Provider") to assist in verifying your identity. If you choose to proceed with this verification process, certain biometric identifiers and biometric information, namely face scan information (face geometry information and information based on that) will be collected. This information is collected and used by our Service Provider to authenticate and verify your identity, and help prevent fraud on our services.
For Illinois residents, the biometric identifiers and biometric information will be destroyed when the initial purpose for collecting or obtaining such identifiers or information has been satisfied or within 3 years of the individual’s last interaction with TextNow, whichever occurs first.
For Texas residents, the biometric identifiers will be destroyed the later of (1) one year after the purpose for collecting the identifier expires, or (2) one year after any recordkeeping obligations imposed by law in connection with the collection of the biometric identifier expires.
Except where prohibited by law, your biometric data is accessible only to our Service Provider and its service providers, which process your data only in order to provide the verification services. As part of the verification process, we may receive from our Service Provider information about you (such as copies of the identification document and photo provided, and data indicating whether the Service Provider was able to identify and authenticate your identity), but Service Provider does not disclose to us your biometric data.
For more information about our Service Provider's practices, you can review the Veriff Privacy Notice.