The IRS has decided that they will no longer be using a private facial recognition system to authenticate taxpayers’ online accounts. This announcement goes against the IRS’ original plan and comes not far behind criticism from both sides of the aisle.
Changes Made
The original plan was set to roll out this summer and would have required taxpayers to submit a selfie to the third-party vendor “ID.me” to access their online accounts. Lawmakers around the country spoke out against this plan, with a major point being that this would put an unfair burden on the American people that do not have access to smartphones or computer cameras. There was also concern with the vendor itself, as ID.me has had recorded data breaches in the past.
The IRS Commissioner said in a statement that they are currently looking for more short-term options that do not require facial recognition. He also said that the agency is aware of people’s concerns and that taxpayers should still feel comfortable about how their information is secured. It should be noted that the transition does not affect the taxpayers’ ability to file their returns. The IRS will continue to accept filings and they should be continued without any problems stemming from this transition.
American Lawmakers are still waiting for a few questions to be answered by the IRS regarding this change of plans. One of the biggest questions that has not been answered is how this change will affect the IRS’s 2 year $86 million dollar contract with ID.me. Lawmakers are also waiting on an answer as to what will happen to taxpayers’ information that has already been submitted through the third-party vendor. The IRS has yet to give any insight on these topics and is instead scrambling for a temporary fix.