Why is PayPal Freezing Accounts and asking about Political Affiliations?

Published Tuesday, 15th May, 2018 | By Susan AKA Peacefull

In my view when we tick terms and conditions we are not really understanding what we agree to. When access becomes conditional on not being political then you can be sure there is a form of repression happening. What is political? Is it commenting on politics, is it organising, is it having political beliefs? What is democratic? Having a voice, speaking your truth, questioning what is happening and sharing power etc. PayPal needs to come out publicly and ackowledge whether they are sending emails and asking people to declare if they are associated with any political figures, this seems to me a form of surveillance if true. It raises questions about those who are providing facilities to enable people to pay online and how they are collecting information on people’s spending patterns. This can be intrusive if this information is revealed to agencies. The whole digital scenario needs investigation by an independent inquiry. We’ve just had the inquiry into banks which is revealing corruption refer https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/banking-inquiry-has-already-exposed-shocking-corruption-but-it-needs-more-time

These comments have been sourced from online forums.

hills mum bec

Posted 02 November 2016 – 01:23 PM

DH has received an email from Paypal informing him that his account has been restricted until he can provide them with a list of things they require. There was no link in the email so he went to check his Paypal account to find that it is indeed restricted. Paypal need him to declare that that he is not associated with any political figures and provide them with proof of identity showing birth date and address in the form of a utility bill, drivers licence and passport. I think this all sounds a bit extreme, a bit dodgy and a huge PITA. He is at the stage where he is thinking of just not using paypal anymore and the only time he ever uses it is for buying stuff on ebay which isn’t a regular thing and we never sell anything. He did send an email to Paypal asking why they needed this information and they sent back a very vague answer about needing to confirm his identity to prevent fraud. Still doesn’t answer the question of why do you need this info now instead of years ago when the account was set up. Has anybody else been asked to provide all this information to Paypal?

Yes they have asked me the same. After having the account for 10 years they suddenly wanted proof of who I was. I rang and they told me it’s part of new money laundering laws etc and everyone is asked. I told them my other account hasn’t been restricted nor have I been asked they said that was unusual. They offered no other explanation. I do use the accounts to buy AND sell though but to this day only one account was asked for proof. They won’t take the restriction off until you send what they’re asking. It is all above board and definitely them requesting it it’s just a major hassle. I guess if you don’t want use of the account just ignore it but if you do they will make you provide the information requested first.

I’m not sure how this will affect the refund you may not be able to get it until you sort the account out.

Edited by SummerStar, 02 November 2016 – 01:31 PM.

Posted 02 November 2016 – 05:05 PM

Crikies, if they asked me for all that, I would also close my account.

They are aiming to become a monopoly. I hope they never do away with cash.

Posted in Finance