I was going to write a different post for the Kill Zone today, but a message had just popped into my inbox. It was from the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLI), and it was an important announcement concerning publishing on Amazon KDP. Strangely, I didn’t hear anything directly from Amazon about this significant access change, but coming from ALLI I knew it was trustworthy. I felt this was important enough to share with fellow writers and self publishers as you may find yourself locked out of KDP and have no idea why. Here’s a copy of Amazon’s announcement.
Identity Verification for KDP
July 30, 2024
KDP is committed to providing legitimate authors and publishers with a trustworthy, enjoyable publishing experience. In order to further protect that experience, we’re introducing Identity Verification for KDP. Beginning today, KDP authors and publishers may be prompted to submit a photo of their government-issued identification which we’ll match against their current account information. We take privacy seriously, and we handle personal information in accordance with Amazon’s Privacy Notice and delete all identity documents after the ID verification process is complete. Once the match is confirmed, authors and publishers will be able to proceed with using their KDP account.
We will continue to develop technology and tools that maintain a high bar for the publishing and bookstore experience and that allow us to maintain the wide selection of titles that we offer to customers.
Thank you for being a part of the KDP community.
FAQ
Q: What is Identity Verification?
Identity Verification is one of many tools for providing authors and publishers with a trustworthy, enjoyable KDP experience, and for protecting KDP readers from fraud and abuse. With Identity Verification, some KDP authors and publishers may be prompted to submit their government-issued identification, which we’ll match against their account information. When that match is confirmed, those publishers will be able to proceed with using their KDP account as normal. All identity documents are deleted after the ID verification process is complete.
Q: Will all KDP publishers need to submit some form of ID?
At this time, only some publishers will be prompted to complete Identity Verification. Identify Verification will expand to more authors over time.
Q: What are you doing to protect publishers’ privacy?
We understand the importance of protecting publisher and author privacy and security, and personal information is treated in accordance with Amazon’s privacy and security policies. For further information, Amazon’s Privacy Notice is available here. All identity documents are deleted after the ID verification process is complete.
Q. What will you do with the ID information you collect?
All identity documents are deleted after the ID verification process is complete.
Q. How will I be prompted and how much time is there to respond?
You will be prompted to verify your identity via an “Identity Verification Required” account banner and an email notification. Once prompted, you will be asked to respond by the date that is in the email and account banner.
Q. What will happen to the account and content of a publisher who does not verify their identity?
If a Publisher is unable to verify their identity, they may pursue our appeals process. If we are not able to verify a publisher’s identity, we may close their KDP account and remove their titles from sale.
Q. Why are you launching this now?
Identity Verification will reduce abuse by bad actors, which will have a positive impact on customers’ book-buying experience.
Kill Zoners – Has anyone else experienced this change on Amazon KDP?
