In the ever-competitive world of online programming contests, platforms like Codeforces have become the battlegrounds for aspiring coders to prove their mettle. However, with great competition comes great temptation — and unfortunately, cheating continues to be a pressing issue.
Despite various measures like plagiarism detection and community moderation, some cheaters find ways to bypass bans by creating new accounts. This not only undermines the integrity of the platform but also demoralizes genuine participants who invest hours into honing their skills.
What if we take a bold step?
Imagine a future where every Codeforces account is linked to a verifiable government-issued ID — such as a country’s national identity card. This would make it virtually impossible for a banned user to create a new account, ensuring that consequences are real and lasting.
By connecting accounts to national identity, we introduce a layer of accountability that goes beyond email or phone verification. Cheaters would know that a single act of dishonesty could cost them their competitive future on the platform — permanently.
Of course, such a feature would need to be implemented with strong data privacy and security safeguards. Optional verification could also be considered initially — perhaps verified users get access to certain rated contests or special features, encouraging organic adoption.
This may sound radical, but sometimes, meaningful change demands bold ideas. If platforms like Codeforces are serious about nurturing fair play and rewarding true talent, perhaps it's time to raise the bar on identity and accountability.
(Please dont downvote me , i am just giving a suggestion)
This request seems to be 100% impossible, why would every government trust Codeforces and gives them tools for National ID Checking? Let's assume the best and say that some governments accepted and some rejected. Then all cheaters can just claim that they are from any rejected country. Even if you will check the IP is it from the country or not, then VPNs exists.
The most realistic solution is phone verification, because it is doable, and will restrict most users who have only 1 phone number, although it will cost Codeforces, probably they may do Telegram OTP check, this is cheaper and could be the best solution.
Identity provider solutions like Onfido perform this type of verification automatically through integration. The downside is that each check incurs a cost, which companies typically offset through anticipated user-generated revenue.
Therefore, the verification fee would either need to be paid by the user or covered through a special agreement—something Codeforces might be able to arrange, given its significance in the programming community.
After that, if a user does not provide identity verification, they would participate in the same cohort as others who also did not complete the process.
I’m not sure how Mike views privacy, but the solution proposed in the post could work — it wouldn't give users an unfair advantage in the job market, and if someone had cheated before, it would be possible to verify that.
This is just AI checker by photo, and I'm not trusting any kind of companies like this, and I will not use any system that requires it. I'm pretty sure that most people won't likely use it.
Why are you asking the community to not downvote you?
No offense, but it's more than radical.
How can Codeforces get verifiable government-issued ID from every country? I mean, do you expect Codeforces to contact with all governments around the world? Even the United Nations can't do that at all.
In China, some apps(like online banks) do require users to link their accounts withs their ID cards and now they have introduced facial recognition system to make sure they won't use fake identity. This is surely a safe way to 100% make sure whether one is believable or not, but using this in not so credit-related websites such as Codeforces(after all, cheating can only result in a fake rating) is way too far.