IRS USES FACIAL RECOGNITION
The IRS Wants to Scan Your
Face
The next time you try to log in to the Internal Revenue Service’s website you’ll be urged to use facial-recognition software to verify you are who you say you are.
The verification process includes taking a picture of a photo ID, like a driver’s license or passport, and then taking a video selfie with a smartphone or computer so software can compare the two. It’s part of a partnership the IRS has with ID.me, a fast-growing company that uses facial recognition software as part of its identity-verification process.
For now, this process is optional if you already have an IRS username and password. But if you don’t, and you want to use online tools to request an online tax transcript or see information regarding your tax payments or economic impact payments, you’ll need to sign up with ID.me. And starting this summer, those old IRS usernames and passwords will no longer work.
As CNN reported last year, ID.me already verifies identities for more than half of all states’ unemployment agencies as well as a growing number of US federal agencies. In addition to the IRS, ID.me works the Department of Veterans Affairs, Social Security Administration and the US Patent and Trademark Office. The company says it has 70 million users and adds 145,000 new users each day. (Read more from “The IRS Wants to Scan Your Face” HERE)