I initiated an ID verification on Bittrex.
To protect myself against possible future identity theft (when Bittrex gets hacked), I wrote Bittrex.com and the current date on a transparent plastic strip and I attached the strip to my passport in a way that it does not cover anything important. I got the basic idea from here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/2icgq9/lpt_if_you_really_need_to_upload_an_id_scan/?st=jq0v3ovg&sh=73db4524This way, if Bittrex.com gets hacked and customer ID photos leak into the darknet, criminals would have hard time using the photo of my passport to conduct KYC at some other service provider. Since the label is physically attached to the passport before taking the photo, I am not violating the terms which say that photo manipulation is forbidden.
On the one hand, I prove to Bittrex that I am really the person that I claim to be.
On the other hand, if Bittrex goes rogue or gets hacked, my identity will still be safe.
Great! So what's the problem?
The problem is that Bittrex insists on me removing this label even though I am not violating any rules. I have not used any photo editing tools to manipulate the photo in any way. The image is scanned in high detail, allowing experts to easily verify that both the label and the ID document are authentic. Why on earth does Bittrex insist on me removing that label then?
Unless, they are illegally selling the KYC photos of their customers to 3rd parties. And of course, a photo like mine would not make them any money.
I have used this same exact method to verify my account on other exchanges and there has been no problem with it.
EDIT 26-12-2018:
They asked me to send them another photo (me holding a paper with text bittrex, the date and also holding my government issued ID). I was able to send that photo over e-mail, which means they finally approached my case manually. After that they enabled my account (YAY!). I immediately bought BSV for all the funds I had there and withdrew them all. Never looking back though.