IRS backtracks on sketchy facial recognition plan following public outcry

Activism, it turns out, still gets results.

That's the takeaway following a Monday morning announcement that the IRS intends to shift away from requiring Americans use a private facial-recognition service to verify their identities on the IRS website. The about face comes after sustained criticism from privacy experts, grassroots activists, and even elected officials.

"This is big," wrote Senator Ron Wyden Monday morning. "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."

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Senator Wyden's concern over ID.me, the facial-recognition service in question, was shared by Fight for the Future, a nonprofit digital rights advocacy group which raised alarm at the initial proposal.

"The IRS' plan to use ID.me and make millions of Americans hand over their sensitive biometric information to a private company in order to access an essential government service would have been a disaster for peoples privacy, security, and safety," explained Caitlin Seeley George, director of campaigns and operations for Fight for the Future, in a statement shared over email. "So abandoning this plan is a huge win for Americans' privacy."

Charles P. Rettig, the IRS agency commissioner, told the New York Times that the "I.R.S. takes taxpayer privacy and security seriously, and we understand the concerns that have been raised."

We reached out to ID.me for its response to both the IRS' Monday announcement and the broader criticism. After the initial publication of this article, the company replied with a non-answer.

"We would refer you to the IRS with any questions on this issue," wrote a company spokesperson.

However ID.me feels, the debate around facial recognition and government services is far from over. Fight for the Future has set its sites on other government services and organizations — which it calls out as including Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, and 30 states — relying on the company for facial recognition.

"The same lawmakers who spoke out about the IRS using this technology must now push for other agencies to abandon use of ID.me, and must also investigate how this company has gotten so many government contracts when it so clearly puts peoples privacy and rights in danger," wrote George.

The privacy activists, in other words, are just getting started.

UPDATE: Feb. 7, 2022, 12:00 p.m. PST The story was updated to include comment from ID.me.