In case you use Starlink outdoors your own home nation, it’s possible you’ll be required to offer your passport particulars or danger having SpaceX droop your service.
Starlink.com has been up to date to say a brand new “journey registration” coverage that seems to use to all clients utilizing satellite tv for pc web service internationally.
“Journey registration is required for all Starlink use outdoors of the nation or territory the place you initially registered your account (your registered residence nation or territory),” the corporate wrote on the assist web page, which PCMag observed at present. It provides: “Failure to finish registration for worldwide journey will lead to service being disabled when overseas.”
The assist web page contains directions on how clients can full the registration inside their accounts. It requires the consumer to submit their full authorized identify, nationality, date of beginning, passport quantity, a duplicate of their passport, and a reside portrait. “In case your service is disabled because of incomplete journey registration, you possibly can full registration to reactivate,” the corporate says.
(Credit score: Starlink.com)
This comes after we noticed a number of Starlink subscribers posting about receiving a crimson banner pop-up asking for passport particulars and reside portrait verification, which entails utilizing the Starlink app to snap a selfie. The registration must be accomplished in 25 days, or the Starlink service might be deactivated, the pop-up says.
(Credit score: Starlink On Boats Fb group)
Since final yr, SpaceX has required buyer verification in some markets, together with nations in Africa, citing native laws. However these days, the corporate’s pop-up has been showing for patrons and vacationers who say they’re based mostly within the US and Canada.
The pop-up asking for buyer verification. (Credit score: Starlink Canada Fb group)
Nonetheless, one buyer in a Starlink Australia Fb group stories being confused by the pop-up since they’ve been with Starlink for over 4 years.
One other consumer in Canada who reported receiving the pop-up says they’ve by no means traveled outdoors the nation. “Discovered the explanation I must confirm. It’s as a result of I’ve the [Starlink] Mini and may journey with it,” the consumer wrote after contacting Starlink buyer assist. The Mini is a conveyable Starlink dish that works with the Roam plan, which helps worldwide journey.
Beneficial by Our Editors
We reached out to SpaceX in regards to the buyer verification pop-up earlier this week, however we haven’t heard again. The corporate additionally didn’t instantly reply in regards to the new journey registration coverage. But it surely’s attainable SpaceX is attempting to crack down on dangerous actors who’re abusing its satellite tv for pc web service, which is on the market in over 150 markets. The Starlink Roam plan lets a buyer use the service internationally in supported markets for “as much as 60 days per journey.”
On Fb, some Starlink clients additionally suspect the verification pop-ups are a part of a “Know Your Buyer” strategy typically adopted by monetary corporations to close down unlawful actions. Through the years, scammers in Myanmar, drug cartels in Latin America, together with a narco-submarine, and Russian navy forces, have all been noticed utilizing Starlink, which has prompted SpaceX to attempt to clamp down. (Later this month, SpaceX will even shut down a location knowledge characteristic in Starlink that’s been efficient at countering GPS jamming and spoofing.)
Though the brand new journey registration coverage might assist Starlink mitigate legal responsibility, it may additionally create confusion, particularly for Starlink customers who haven’t got a passport. On Fb, some customers have been questioning whether or not the pop-up is legit or a rip-off try, on condition that it asks for delicate data.
About Our Knowledgeable
Michael Kan
Principal Reporter
Expertise
I have been a journalist for over 15 years. I received my begin as a faculties and cities reporter in Kansas Metropolis and joined PCMag in 2017, the place I cowl satellite tv for pc web companies, cybersecurity, PC {hardware}, and extra. I am at the moment based mostly in San Francisco, however beforehand spent over 5 years in China, protecting the nation’s know-how sector.
Since 2020, I’ve lined the launch and explosive progress of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service, writing 600+ tales on availability and have launches, but additionally the regulatory battles over the enlargement of satellite tv for pc constellations, fights with rival suppliers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the hassle to broaden into satellite-based cellular service. I’ve combed by way of FCC filings for the newest information and pushed to distant corners of California to check Starlink’s mobile service.
I additionally cowl cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC compelled Avast to pay customers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and promoting their private data to third-party shoppers, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I additionally cowl the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in entrance of a Finest Purchase to get an RTX 3000. I am now following how the AI-driven reminiscence scarcity is impacting your entire shopper electronics market. I am at all times desirous to study extra, so please bounce within the feedback with suggestions and ship me ideas.
Learn Full Bio
