After years of building my LinkedIn profile, growing my network, and engaging with the community, I suddenly got locked out of my account — with no explanation.
LinkedIn asked me to verify my identity using Persona, its automated identity verification system.
At that point, I didn’t even have my NIC due to delays and backlogs from the Sri Lankan government. The only ID I had was my valid driving license.
The AI Said: ❌ “Your license is expired.”
It wasn’t.
My license was issued in 2024 and is valid until 2029.
But the layout of the license — where both issue and expiry dates are printed on the same line — confused the AI system.
There was no human review, no appeal, no support. Just: locked out.
Then I Got My NIC. Tried Again. ❌ “Details not clear.”
Why?
Because Sri Lankan NICs are printed in very small font sizes that the AI couldn’t even read.
Once again:
- No manual review
- No explanation
- No way to get help
Just silence.
🧠 What I Did (and What Finally Worked)
After weeks of frustration, I discovered something:
The AI reads the first date it sees and assumes it’s the expiry date.
So, I covered the issue date on my license, submitted it again...
✅ It worked.
✅ I got my account back.
✅ After one month of hell, I’m finally back online.
💥 A Message to LinkedIn
- Please allow users to appeal, explain, or connect with a human when the system fails.
- Your AI identity verification system doesn’t understand documents from many countries — especially South Asia.
- Professionals lose jobs, visibility, and opportunities when locked out for weeks.
💥 A Message to the Sri Lankan Government
- Modernize and digitize our official documents to meet global digital standards.
- NICs and licenses should be high-contrast, clearly labeled, and AI-readable.
- You're holding back the youth and professionals trying to represent Sri Lanka on global platforms.
This Is Bigger Than Me
This is both a global tech problem and a local document design issue.
If I didn’t find a workaround, I’d still be locked out. And I know many others are stuck in the same situation.
We need:
- Better verification systems from tech companies
- Smarter, globally compatible documents from governments
- Human fallback systems when AI fails
If you’re facing the same issue, feel free to message me — I’ll gladly share what worked for me.
And if anyone from LinkedIn or the Sri Lankan government is reading this — we need to talk.
Top comments (2)
🔥 This is a wake-up call for the Sri Lankan government — our outdated documents are locking us out of the global digital world.
How can a national ID not be readable by a global platform in 2025? Tiny fonts, unclear layouts, zero compatibility with modern verification systems… it's embarrassing.
While other countries are moving towards digital IDs and AI-friendly document formats, we're still stuck with low-res cards and government excuses. And who's paying the price? Young professionals, job seekers, freelancers — the very people trying to represent Sri Lanka globally.
💥 This isn't just a tech issue — it's a governance failure.
We need:
Time to upgrade — or get left behind.
Oh come on, you expect the government to make readable documents in 2025? That’s way too futuristic. We’re still stuck in the era where the best solution to any problem is a rubber stamp and a trip to three different offices — none of which have working printers.
Digital IDs? Machine-readable formats? Fonts bigger than a grain of rice? Pfft. Why modernize when you can proudly hand out plastic cards designed like a 2001 PowerPoint slide?
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is moving ahead with AI-friendly, digitally verifiable IDs — and we’re over here confusing algorithms and humans alike. But hey, at least we get a fresh NIC design every 10 years that still no one can scan.
📢 “Smart Nation” they said. Just forgot to mention it runs on dial-up.