BI-PARTISAN BACKLASH: IRS stops requiring selfies | Ars Technica

Please Note (from an earlier post on this blog): Last week the Treasury Department had said it was "reviewing" the matter, but today's announcement is a big deal. It's rare to see a government agency move this fast, so kudos to Treasury/IRS for acting quickly (though, it can be argued that it never should have gotten this far in the first place). But also kudos to Wyden for helping make this happen as well. . .The transition announced yesterday does not interfere with the taxpayer's ability to file their return or pay taxes owed. During this period, the IRS will continue to accept tax filings, and it has no other impact on the current tax season. People should continue to file their taxes as they normally would.

-- Techdirt  IRS Says It Will Move Away From Requiring ID.me Facial Recognition

from the good-move dept

Mon, Feb 7th 2022 12:11pm — Mike Masnick

 

The IRS has been using the third-party system ID.me for facial recognition of taxpayers. Privacy and civil rights advocates and lawmakers from both major parties have objected to the system. The IRS wasn't demanding ID.me verification for filing tax returns but was requiring it for accessing related services, such as account information, applying for payment plans online, requesting transcripts, and the Child Tax Credit Update Portal.

IRS stops requiring selfies after facial recognition system is widely panned

IRS "will transition away from" ID.me selfie system after bipartisan backlash.

Jon Brodkin -

Ars Technica | 2/7/2022, 2:13 PM

 

"The Internal Revenue Service is dropping a controversial facial recognition system that requires people to upload video selfies when creating new IRS online accounts.

"The IRS announced it will transition away from using a third-party service for facial recognition to help authenticate people creating new online accounts," the agency said today. "The transition will occur over the coming weeks in order to prevent larger disruptions to taxpayers during filing season. During the transition, the IRS will quickly develop and bring online an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition."

The ID.me system is "using Amazon's controversial Rekognition technology" and had verified 20.9 million users' selfies by January 25, Bloomberg wrote. The Treasury Department last year signed a two-year, $86 million contract with a vendor to deploy and maintain ID.me software.

Bipartisan opposition

US Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, was among those who called on the IRS to scrap the system. "The Treasury Department has made the smart decision to direct the IRS to transition away from using the controversial ID.me verification service, as I requested earlier today," Wyden said after today's announcement. "I understand the transition process may take time, but I appreciate that the administration recognizes that privacy and security are not mutually exclusive and no one should be forced to submit to facial recognition to access critical government services."

The IRS process involves uploading a photo of an ID (such as a license or passport) along with a video selfie, which are compared against each other to verify the user's identity. ID.me explains that, if the process fails, "you will be routed to verify your identity over a video call with an ID.me Trusted Referee... You will need to show your identity documents to an ID.me Trusted Referee along with a selfie (a photo of yourself) to complete your identity verification."

ID.me verification was already required for people creating new IRS accounts. There was a phase-in approach for people who previously created IRS online accounts—the IRS said in November that those people can use their credentials until summer 2022 and will be "prompted to create an ID.me account as soon as possible."

A group of 15 Republican senators last week wrote a letter to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, saying the "IRS has unilaterally decided to allow an outside contractor to stand as the gatekeeper between citizens and necessary government services." The senators objected to "intrusive verification measures" and the fact that "ID.me is not subject to the same oversight rules as a government agency."