IRS will stop facial recognition requirement for gaining access to tax accounts

US Internal Revenue Service faced backlash for ID.me integration in Washington and nationally

A man works on his taxes at home in Silver Spring, Maryland. AP

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will stop using facial recognition software for taxpayers trying to gain access to online tax accounts over concerns about privacy and security.

The transition from the ID.me, the third-party verification system that required taxpayers to upload video selfies to access their tax information online, will begin in the coming weeks, the IRS said on Monday.

The IRS said it would add additional verification tools that don’t involve facial recognition, but didn’t specify how those would work.

The use of the software has been the subject of bipartisan criticism from members of Congress in recent weeks because of concerns about privacy as well as questions about racial bias embedded in the programme.

“The IRS takes taxpayer privacy and security seriously, and we understand the concerns that have been raised,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement on Monday.

“Everyone should feel comfortable with how their personal information is secured, and we are quickly pursuing short-term options that do not involve facial recognition.”

The IRS said the tax filing season, which began last month and runs until April 18 for most taxpayers, would not be hindered by the transition away from using ID.me.

The decision was immediately praised by Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, who sent a letter to the IRS earlier on Monday asking them to discontinue the use of the programme.

“I appreciate that the administration recognises that privacy and security are not mutually exclusive and no one should be forced to submit to facial recognition to access critical government services,” Mr Wyden said in a statement.

The IRS website last year began requiring taxpayers to use ID.me to gain access to personalised information about eligibility for expanded child tax credits funded by President Joe Biden’s pandemic relief programme, among other services.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters building in Washington. AP

Research has shown that AI-driven facial recognition software often makes mistakes with darker-skinned people. That identified bias in the technology has prompted activists to call for law enforcement agencies to abandon using it altogether.

ID.me says it has verified the identities of about 70 million people. Those numbers grew rapidly as a result of its work for 27 states processing unemployment claims during the pandemic and helping combat fraud. Several other federal entities also use the technology.

But it has faced complaints that its software has resulted in innocent claimants being flagged for fraud.

The company, which has been criticised for not being transparent about what sort of facial recognition technology it uses, last month said it kept a database of users’ images against which it compared new selfies.