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The
Internal Revenue Service announced in November that it will
transition this year to identity verification using ID.me
technology for accessing online services including tax records
and Child Tax Credit information.
The process involves uploading a "selfie" photograph to create
an ID.me account and gained more attention this week as the IRS
kicked off its annual tax return filing season.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said on Twitter that
he was "very disturbed" by the prospect of taxpayers submitting
to facial recognition.
Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, called the move
a "very, very bad idea," adding that facial recognition is less
accurate with dark skin tones.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the ID.me facial
recognition technology "biased" and "glitchy."
A U.S. Treasury official said on Friday that Treasury and IRS
are looking into alternatives to ID.me.
"The IRS is consistently looking for ways to make the filing
process more secure but to be clear, no American is required to
take a selfie in order to file their tax return," the department
said in a statement.
A spokesperson for ID.me could not immediately be reached for
comment.
The company said in a statement on Monday that its technology
complies with National Institute of Standards and Technology
guidelines to offer three ways to verify identity.
The firm said it provides digital identity services to 10
federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration
and the Department of Veterans affairs, and 30 U.S. states.
Treasury said in its statement that a lack of funding for
modernization of IRS information technology systems has forced
it to rely on ID.me and other third-party service.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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