A Facebook account passes as an official form of ID at a US airport

TRAVELLER Zach Klein, Vimeo co-founder and CEO of DIY.org, was recently travelling when he realised he had left his official govement-issue form of ID at home.

So imagine his surprise when he was let through thanks to Facebook!

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told Mr Klein that his Facebook profile could be used as a form of identification. He was so shocked he Tweeted about it, and got quite a response from equally-shocked followers asking if it were true.

Got to the airport, realized I left my ID at home. TSA allowed me to use my Facebook profile instead. — Zach Klein (@zachklein) December 22, 2013

@zachklein You're kidding. How is a profile you made and no one verified a valid form of ID? Really hope that's a joke. — Jennifer Healy (@Henjealy) December 22, 2013

According to the TSA this is not a new policy and they've been long letting travellers use "other means" to substatinate identity.

In fact, on the TSA website it says: "We understand passengers occasionally arrive at the airport without an ID, due to lost items or inadvertently leaving them at home. Not having an ID does not necessarily mean a passenger won't be allowed to fly. If passengers are willing to provide additional information, we have other means of substantiating someone's identity, like using publicly available databases."

Although there doesn't seem to be an approved list of the databases that the TSA will accept, it seems Facebook is one of those.