US federal agencies abandon ID.me facial-recognition system

IRS drops ID.me facial-recognition verification; GSA pauses facial-recognition checks.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has decided not to use the ID.me facial-recognition system for verifying taxpayers’ identities. The decision was taken by the Department of the Treasury, said Senator Ron Wyden.

This is big: The IRS has notified my office it plans to transition away from using facial recognition verification, as I requested earlier today. While this transition may take time, the administration recognizes that privacy and security are not mutually exclusive. https://t.co/jw7OR7dNo0

— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) February 7, 2022

“The Treasury Department has made a prudent decision to direct the IRS to discontinue the use of the controversial ID.me verification service, as I requested earlier,” Wyden said in a statement.

He added that no one should be forced to use facial recognition to access critical government services.

In заявлении IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig said the agency aims to roll out a verification mechanism that does not involve biometric identification.

“The IRS takes taxpayers’ privacy and security seriously, and we understand the concerns raised,” he said.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has also paused the use of facial recognition systems to verify citizens’ identities using the popular Login.gov login service. 

According to Dave Zvenyach, director of GSA’s Technology Transformation Service, facial-recognition technology has too many problems to justify its use as an authentication service.

“The agency is committed not to deploy facial recognition […] or any other technology for obtaining benefits and government services until careful analysis gives us confidence that we can do this fairly and without harming vulnerable populations,” he said.

Earlier, the Treasury Department signed an $86 million, two-year contract with ID.me. Under the agreement, from the summer of 2022, American taxpayers must undergo facial-recognition verification when accessing online services.

In February, a group of American congressmen urged the IRS to abandon plans to implement a biometric identification system on the agency’s site.

In January, ID.me confirmed the use of a vast database for facial recognition.

In June 2021, due to errors in the facial-scanning system, many Americans lost unemployment benefits.

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