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Hi,
Today I was asked by a well-known California-based company for a copy of my passport to prove my canadian citizenship. Their policy says they don't hire people from countries like Iraq etc. and they want to make sure that I am not from one of those countries. It seems legitimate at the first glance. But, think twice, it is a sensitive piece of personal ID to send to a company which I don't know if they would hire me or not. Also, they can extract a lot of background info about me, like age, ethnicity, marital status, etc., which would have been illegal to ask for directly. I also don't know what they would do with my personal ID. In fact, is it illegal for them to ask for my passport at this early stage of candidacy consideration? I don't know the US law that much but I don't want to sound naive or hostile if I reject their request. I don't know why a big and reputable company would make such a shady request. What should I do?
Today I was asked by a well-known California-based company for a copy of my passport to prove my canadian citizenship. Their policy says they don't hire people from countries like Iraq etc. and they want to make sure that I am not from one of those countries. It seems legitimate at the first glance. But, think twice, it is a sensitive piece of personal ID to send to a company which I don't know if they would hire me or not. Also, they can extract a lot of background info about me, like age, ethnicity, marital status, etc., which would have been illegal to ask for directly. I also don't know what they would do with my personal ID. In fact, is it illegal for them to ask for my passport at this early stage of candidacy consideration? I don't know the US law that much but I don't want to sound naive or hostile if I reject their request. I don't know why a big and reputable company would make such a shady request. What should I do?
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