I recently have been working through a course in Edx using the audit route. I’m thinking of signing up and pay for a certificate, but I have a question that applies to Edx and Coursera. Both sites require verification. Edx requires “Verify your identity with a webcam and government-issued ID” and I think Coursera has a similar requirement. My question is, are both site secure and safe enough to submit my driver’s license for verification?
I cannot speak for Edx specifically although Coursera has similar requirements for a Government issued-ID in your jurisdiction/country.
This is a manual verification done by their own employees submitted under their agreement with you and a third party service. The service they say is secure enough and is used to scan/store the image and pull information graphically from their end but it is not verified by any Government process or Government employees in any country.
Many countries have different privacy policies/legislation so you would need to start there to figure out this part, otherwise, it is like any internet service you would be transmitting your information point-to-point and having them approve your identity.
As an aside, I just completed a couple of Coursera courses myself. The first one will most likely be no charge if you can audit the course and then complete for a certificate in the 7 days trial period. They do not require an active subscription to maintain your certificates/credentials after completing any of the courses.