U.S. Treasury weighs alternatives to ID.me after privacy concerns raised

LogicMark

28/01/2022 23:28

By David Lawder
    WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on
Friday it is considering alternatives to facial-recognition
technology by commercial provider ID.me to verify identities for
online taxpayer accounts after some lawmakers raised privacy
concerns.
    The Internal Revenue Service announced in November https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-unveils-new-online-identity-verification-process-for-accessing-self-help-tools
 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
https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1484324973174931463 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 https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1486788730241257476,
" adding that facial recognition is less accurate with dark skin
tones.
    The American Civil Liberties Union called https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1484552049656270853
 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 https://insights.id.me/press-releases/id-me-comments-on-adherence-to-federal-rules-on-facial-recognition-selfies-that-protect-identities-from-theft
 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)
 ((David.Lawder@tr.com; +1 202 354 5854; Reuters Messaging:
david.lawder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))