(Credit: Kang-Chun Cheng/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
If you use Starlink outside your home country, you may be required to provide your passport details or risk having SpaceX suspend your service.
Starlink.com has been updated to mention a new “travel registration” policy that appears to apply to all customers using satellite internet service internationally.
“Travel registration is required for all Starlink use outside of the country or territory where you initially registered your account (your registered home country or territory),” the company wrote on the support page, which PCMag noticed today. It adds: “Failure to complete registration for international travel will result in service being disabled when abroad.”
The support page includes instructions on how customers can complete the registration within their accounts. It requires the user to submit their full legal name, nationality, date of birth, passport number, a copy of their passport, and a live portrait. “If your service is disabled due to incomplete travel registration, you can complete registration to reactivate,” the company says.
(Credit: Starlink.com)This comes after we spotted several Starlink subscribers posting about receiving a red banner pop-up asking for passport details and live portrait verification, which involves using the Starlink app to snap a selfie. The registration needs to be completed in 25 days, or the Starlink service will be deactivated, the pop-up says.
(Credit: Starlink On Boats Facebook group)Since last year, SpaceX has required customer verification in some markets, including countries in Africa, citing local regulations. But lately, the company’s pop-up has been appearing for customers and travelers who say they’re based in the US and Canada.
Still, one customer in a Starlink Australia Facebook group reports being confused by the pop-up since they’ve been with Starlink for over four years.
Another user in Canada who reported receiving the pop-up says they've never traveled outside the country. “Found out the reason I need to verify. It’s because I have the [Starlink] Mini and can travel with it,” the user wrote after contacting Starlink customer support. The Mini is a portable Starlink dish that works with the Roam plan, which supports international travel.
We reached out to SpaceX about the customer verification pop-up earlier this week, but we haven’t heard back. The company also didn’t immediately respond about the new travel registration policy. But it’s possible SpaceX is trying to crack down on bad actors who are abusing its satellite internet service, which is available in over 150 markets. The Starlink Roam plan lets a customer use the service internationally in supported markets for “up to 60 days per trip.”
On Facebook, some Starlink customers also suspect the verification pop-ups are part of a “Know Your Customer” approach often adopted by financial firms to shut down illegal activities. Over the years, scammers in Myanmar, drug cartels in Latin America, including a narco-submarine, and Russian military forces, have all been spotted using Starlink, which has prompted SpaceX to try to clamp down. (Later this month, SpaceX will also shut down a location data feature in Starlink that’s been effective at countering GPS jamming and spoofing.)
Although the new travel registration policy could help Starlink mitigate liability, it might also create confusion, especially for Starlink users who don't have a passport. On Facebook, some users have been questioning whether the pop-up is legit or a scam attempt, given that it asks for sensitive information.
One customer who uses Starlink on his boat also encountered the travel registration requirement while sailing. But in an alarming discovery, SpaceX suspended his satellite internet access before he could register, rather than giving him a 25 day deadline to submit his passport information.
"As we had left the marina and were starting our passage to Greece, our Starlink shut off," said Bruce Toal. "I went to the app and got the verification required warning and that it needed to be complete within 24 hours or they would shut my account off. But it was already shutdown."
"Luckily I was still within cell range (using a phone) and was able to complete the verification," he added. "I just wished I had gotten the message about this need before I left the marina. Had I not been had cell coverage, I would have been dark until Greece."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with the experience of a Starlink boat user.