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Topic: How Coinbase knows an account is from a sex worker? (Read 268 times)

legendary
Activity: 2128
Merit: 1775
@adamcro I think if you have read the laws I quoted, from @hosseinimr93's post.

But according to their User Agreement, seems that using coinbase services for such a business and activity is not allowed.

I'm sure you will understand how the Coinbase party/team will freeze/close the accounts of sex workers detected using Coinbase services.

The point is here, they (Coinbase) will ask for re-verification, if the user account is suspicious, especially about sex worker users, in the quote below there are several points that can be taken.
Quote
The information we request may include (but is not limited to) personal information such as your name, residential address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, taxpayer identification number, government identification number, information regarding your bank account (such as the name of the bank, the account type, routing number, and account number) network status, customer type, customer role, billing type, mobile device identifiers (e.g. international mobile subscriber identity and international mobile equipment identity) and other subscriber status details, and any such information that Coinbase is required to collect from time to time under applicable law.

For example: Social media, WhatsApp, photos, phone numbers, Websites, data and so on.



All the verification results from Coinbase make sense to me, if they want to close suspicious user accounts.

It's all believed by several factors about online prostitution.
In general, online prostitution cannot be separated from the data requested by mashers.
For example: Usually Online Prostitution always displays personal data such as: WhatsApp, Blackberry, Messenger, Website, posture, photo, age, bank account, number
telephone and so on to be able to make transactions and can be contacted.
With this situation, Coinbase will easily detect the accounts of sex workers who use their services, if they are proven to be involved in Online Prostitution, for that reason I believe they will close their accounts which Coinbase thinks can be detrimental and endanger their companies engaged in crypto services.
legendary
Activity: 2338
Merit: 1923
According to their user agreement they do not allow these sites to receive and send funds from coinbase. They do not deny these workers to open account on coinbase but they prohibit them for the use on such sites where sex workers work. So they will not freeze/lock your account unless they find that any fund is received or sent to any of the adult website.

Oh wow, Coinbase is new for me and it disappoints me. It's very hard with normal banks, I know that. But also Coinbase... why am I surprised? I just didn't think about the insanity within crypto, it's because of the exchange and there rules. We must accept it. I would be happy if the negative view about the adult industry finally stopped. Believe me, there are a lot of sex workers who want to do the job. 
sr. member
Activity: 734
Merit: 250
I've been reading how Coinbase shuts down sex worker's account. I was wondering how do they know account is from a sex worker? They probably don't use your real name in sex work so even if they pass KYC Coinbase can't know unless they do a research on them.
Payments are anonyoums. I don't understand
According to their user agreement they do not allow these sites to receive and send funds from coinbase. They do not deny these workers to open account on coinbase but they prohibit them for the use on such sites where sex workers work. So they will not freeze/lock your account unless they find that any fund is received or sent to any of the adult website.
legendary
Activity: 2520
Merit: 1233
That's is why never use a centralized wallet/exchange or must be read first their "terms and condition" before picking them as your Bitcoin wallet to avoid this kind of issue.  Since Coinbase is required KYC/AML, it's easy for them to connect those prohibited addresses that could be linked to your address which is becomes violated on your part.  That's why in Bitcoin Whitepaper, it's always recommended to change your Bitcoin address per transaction to cover your pseudo-anonymous.

So avoid using a centralized Bitcoin wallet that required KYC verification if you care about your privacy, an open-source wallet that generates a new address per transaction must be better to use.
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 3507
Crypto Swap Exchange
I've been reading how Coinbase shuts down sex worker's account. I was wondering how do they know account is from a sex worker? They probably don't use your real name in sex work so even if they pass KYC Coinbase can't know unless they do a research on them.
Payments are anonyoums. I don't understand

hm, your account is suspended because of your work?
hero member
Activity: 1778
Merit: 709
[Nope]No hype delivers more than hope
Several possibilities:
  • Users acknowledge the source of their funds;
  • (As many have mentioned) The user's btc address is linked to a porn site;
  • The pseudonym can still be detected. If facial recognition detects a match (manually or AI) with a porn site user, it can be temporarily frozen for further identification.
Not really. Making deposits or withdrawals to a porn website doesn't mean the user is a sex worker. But if that's detected, it should be enough for the account to get closed.
The problem is that if prostitution is a common prohibition for coinbase users, sex workers may avoid it and find another way to trade with random coinbase users with poor verification skills.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
Payments are anonyoums. I don't understand
Payments in Bitcoin are pseudo-anonymous but as soon as you connect them with your identity, in exchanges like Coinbase or similar, you are being tracked and your account can be blocked at any time.
Any time you sign up for account in centralized exchange like coinbase, and send them your information you are sadly going to be inside chainalasys tracking machine system.  Tongue
Only solution for her or for everyone else who still wants to keep anonymity with Bitcoin transaction is to use services like Chipmixer that will mix your coins.
Using decentralized exchanges like Bisq is a good idea because you don't need to submit any kyc, and good address management is also important if you want to function normally with Bitcoin.
legendary
Activity: 2380
Merit: 5213
Deposits and withdrawal history would detect though that is related to a porn site, but really does it indicates as a sex worker?
Not really. Making deposits or withdrawals to a porn website doesn't mean the user is a sex worker. But if that's detected, it should be enough for the account to get closed.
According to their User Agreement, having connection (which probably means deposits and withdrawals) with any sexually-related services is prohibited.

By opening a Coinbase Account, you represent and warrant that you will not use Coinbase Services or the Coinbase Platform in connection with any of the following businesses, activities, practices, or items:

 (I) Adult Content and Services: pornography and other obscene materials (including literature, imagery and other media); sites offering any sexually-related services such as prostitution, escorts, pay-per view, adult live chat features;
legendary
Activity: 2408
Merit: 2226
Signature space for rent
Surprising, I wasn't aware of that kind of case. By reading their terms & conditions look like sex workers do not have the right to use cryptocurrency. What a ridiculous terms and conditions. I don't know how they detect the profession if it wasn't submitted along with personal documents. Deposits and withdrawal history would detect though that is related to a porn site, but really does it indicates as a sex worker? However, those accounts been restricted could use the non-custodial wallet and use dex always. Using a centralized wallet and exchange wouldn't be appreciated anyways. We should ignore them as much as possible.
legendary
Activity: 3500
Merit: 6320
Crypto Swap Exchange
It does go back to the fact that BTC is not anonymous, it's pseudo anonymous at best.
Coinbase knows a lot of things about yourBTC, same way banks can, with a little bit of digging, find out a lot about that check you deposited.

We tend to be willfully ignorant of these things and just keep doing what we have been doing, till it bites us on the ass.


-Dave
hero member
Activity: 2366
Merit: 793
Bitcoin = Financial freedom
I've been reading how Coinbase shuts down sex worker's account. I was wondering how do they know account is from a sex worker? They probably don't use your real name in sex work so even if they pass KYC Coinbase can't know unless they do a research on them.
Payments are anonyoums. I don't understand

Some of the popular porn websites made cryptocurrency as their primary payment mode for subscription so due to the regulations the coinbase also need to take care of the source of funds is whether legally obtained or not hut simply its not really possible to find someone's background but seriously they do research on every person?

That's why I hate coinbase, you have lot of other choices too...
legendary
Activity: 2576
Merit: 1860
There was probably a link established between the user's account and a site whose business involves adult content and services. As hosseinimr93 pointed out, Coinbase prohibits the use of its services and platform with such business. It is indicated under Prohibited Businesses under Appendix 1 of their terms and conditions.[1]

If there was a deposit detected from a certain address linked to a site offering sexually-related services which accepts crypto like PornHub, for example, then Coinbase alarms could be triggered. 

Incidentally, what caught my attention reading Coinbase's terms and conditions is this:

Quote
Most Prohibited Businesses categories are imposed by Card Network rules or the requirements of our banking providers or processors.

Their hands are tied.


[1] https://www.coinbase.com/legal/user_agreement/united_states
copper member
Activity: 2128
Merit: 1814
฿itcoin for all, All for ฿itcoin.
You could also ask yourself, how does Coinbase know an account is of a gambler?

Part of the information comes from heavy investment in chainalysis and KYC/AML procedure, which involves gathering a user's information at all costs.
Incase u didn't know. such sites collect a huge amount of information about you. Just check their privacy policy - https://www.coinbase.com/legal/privacy

Quote
3. THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Personal information is typically data that identifies an individual or relates to an identifiable individual. This includes information you provide to us, information which is collected about you automatically, and information we obtain from third parties. The definition of personal information depends on the applicable law based on your physical location. Only the definition that applies to your physical location will apply to you under this Privacy Policy.

Information you provide to us. To establish an account and access our Services, we'll ask you to provide us with some important information about yourself. This information is either required by law (e.g. to verify your identity), necessary to provide the requested services (e.g. you will need to provide your bank account number if you'd like to link that account to CB), or is relevant for certain specified purposes, described in greater detail below. As we add new features and Services, you may be asked to provide additional information.

If you choose not to share certain information with us, we may not be able to serve you as effectively or offer you our Services. Any information you provide to us that is not required is voluntary.

We may collect the following types of information from you:

Personal Identification Information: Full name, date of birth, nationality, gender, signature, utility bills, photographs, phone number, home address, and/or email.

Formal Identification Information: Government issued identity document such as Passport, Driver's License, National Identity Card, State ID Card, Tax ID number, passport number, driver's license details, national identity card details, visa information, and/or any other information deemed necessary to comply with our legal obligations under financial or anti-money laundering laws.

Institutional Information: Employer Identification number (or comparable number issued by a government), proof of legal formation (e.g. Articles of Incorporation), personal identification information for all material beneficial owners.

Financial Information: Bank account information, payment card primary account number (PAN), transaction history, trading data, and/or tax identification.

Transaction Information: Information about the transactions you make on our Services, such as the name of the recipient, your name, the amount, and/or timestamp.

Employment Information: Office location, job title, and/or description of role.

Correspondence: Survey responses, information provided to our support team or user research team.

Audio, electronic, visual and similar information, such as call and video recordings.

Information we collect from you automatically. To the extent permitted under the applicable law, we may collect certain types of information automatically, such as whenever you interact with the Sites or use the Services. This information helps us address customer support issues, improve the performance of our Sites and Services, provide you with a streamlined and personalized experience, and protect your account from fraud by detecting unauthorized access. Information collected automatically includes:

Online Identifiers: Geo location/tracking details, browser fingerprint, operating system, browser name and version, and/or personal IP addresses.

Usage Data: Authentication data, security questions, click-stream data, public social networking posts, and other data collected via cookies and similar technologies. Please read our Cookie Policy for more information.

For example, we may automatically receive and record the following information on our server logs:

How you came to and use the Services;

Device type and unique device identification numbers;

Device event information (such as crashes, system activity and hardware settings, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and referral URL);

How your device interacts with our Sites and Services, including pages accessed and links clicked;

Broad geographic location (e.g. country or city-level location); and

Other technical data collected through cookies, pixel tags and other similar technologies that uniquely identify your browser.

We may also use identifiers to recognize you when you access our Sites via an external link, such as a link appearing on a third party site.

Information we collect from our affiliates and third parties. From time to time, we may obtain information about you from our affiliates or third party sources as required or permitted by applicable law. These sources may include:

Our Coinbase Family of Companies: Our “family of companies” is the group of companies related to us by common control or ownership (“Affiliates”). In accordance with applicable law, we may obtain information about you from our Affiliates as a normal part of conducting business, if you link your various Coinbase accounts (e.g., Coinbase Wallet account or Coinbase Commerce account in order to convert cryptocurrency into fiat and make withdrawals into your bank account), so that we may offer our Affiliates’ Services to you.

Public Databases, Credit Bureaus & ID Verification Partners: We obtain information about you from public databases and ID verification partners for purposes of verifying your identity in accordance with applicable law. ID verification partners like World-Check use a combination of government records and publicly available information about you to verify your identity. Such information may include your name, address, job role, public employment profile, credit history, status on any sanctions lists maintained by public authorities, and other relevant data. We obtain such information to comply with our legal obligations, such as anti-money laundering laws. In some cases, we may process additional data about you to assess risk and ensure our Services are not used fraudulently or for other illicit activities. In such instances, processing is necessary for us to continue to perform our contractual obligations with you and others. World-Check's Privacy Policy, available at https://www.refinitiv.com/en/products/world-check-kyc-screening/privacy-statement/, describes its collection and use of personal data.

Blockchain Data: We may analyze public blockchain data to ensure parties utilizing our Services are not engaged in illegal or prohibited activity under our Terms, and to analyze transaction trends for research and development purposes.

Joint Marketing Partners & Resellers: For example, unless prohibited by applicable law, joint marketing partners or resellers may share information about you with us so that we can better understand which of our Services may be of interest to you.

Advertising Networks & Analytics Providers: We work with these providers to provide us with de-identified information about how you found our Sites and how you interact with the Sites and Services. This information may be collected prior to account creation. For more information on how you can manage collection of this data, please see our Cookie Policy.
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 3217
Playbet.io - Crypto Casino and Sportsbook
Since Coinbase have their own database of wallet and addresses then maybe that worker is actually withdrawing the BTC from the site directly to his Coinbase account?
BTC is not completely anonymous all transactions you made can still see in the block explorer and possible the BTC that she withdraw and the address where the BTC came from might have a name on any blockchain explorer pointing to a sex site?

I heard that Coinbase have their own way to investigate how to know if their users are using illegal activities.

That is why there are tumblers or mixers out there to completely make your transaction anonymous if you use your sex account and withdraw them and sent them directly to Coinbase there is a possibility they can know where it came from.

It's not also a good practice to use Coinbase as a wallet if you working on a sex site you must use a tumbler/mixer or if you want to exchange your BTC always use P2P exchange just to avoid that issue.
legendary
Activity: 3122
Merit: 1102
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
I've been reading how Coinbase shuts down sex worker's account. I was wondering how do they know account is from a sex worker? They probably don't use your real name in sex work so even if they pass KYC Coinbase can't know unless they do a research on them.
Payments are anonyoums. I don't understand

curious. source of your reading?

based from my quick search - check this article - https://survivorsagainstsesta.org/platforms-discriminate-against-sex-workers/

maybe the OP read the item #26 here -



and if you submit KYC, maybe the site happen to search your name and she's posting on her social media channel about the nature of her work. who knows? but should not discriminate a user because of the nature of work. as long as you are getting the money legally, should not turn down their services.
legendary
Activity: 2380
Merit: 5213
I just made a search to find the source of the news OP is talking about and couldn't find anything.
But according to their User Agreement, seems that using coinbase services for such a business and activity is not allowed.

Below is one of the prohibited businesses they have listed.

  (I) Adult Content and Services: pornography and other obscene materials (including literature, imagery and other media); sites offering any sexually-related services such as prostitution, escorts, pay-per view, adult live chat features;
hero member
Activity: 3080
Merit: 603
I have looked to some articles if this really happens but no can do, I can't any viable source about this news that you've told. But if it's about knowing the job of the customer that they've passed through KYC, AFAIK, there's a process of interviewing them if it's necessary.
So in all means, that's the possible way of knowing the livelihood of their customer and knowing where they're getting their funds. Not essential as an interview but maybe from sort of forms and other the same stuff.
full member
Activity: 1050
Merit: 109
1xBit.. recovered their reputation
I've been reading how Coinbase shuts down sex worker's account. I was wondering how do they know account is from a sex worker? They probably don't use your real name in sex work so even if they pass KYC Coinbase can't know unless they do a research on them.
Payments are anonyoums. I don't understand
please link your news

btw, what's wrong with the sex worker, doesn't she have the right to create a coinbase account? and I think this leak happened because someone might leak her identity to social media or other platforms that can be tracked with a google search

this is a strange case
member
Activity: 259
Merit: 18
I've been reading how Coinbase shuts down sex worker's account. I was wondering how do they know account is from a sex worker? They probably don't use your real name in sex work so even if they pass KYC Coinbase can't know unless they do a research on them.
Payments are anonyoums. I don't understand

curious. source of your reading?
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