Summary

Starting in 2022, the IRS requires facial recognition and personal identification documents for new online accounts, partnering with ID.me to reduce fraud.

Abstract

The IRS is implementing a new requirement for facial recognition and personal identification documents, such as a driver's license or passport, for new online accounts starting in 2022. This initiative is part of a partnership with ID.me, a firm that specializes in digital identity verification, to combat increasing fraud cases involving IRS payments. By mid-2022, anyone accessing their IRS account online will need to use this facial recognition software, affecting tasks like viewing transcripts, making payments, and applying for payment plans. Critics argue that this technology may discriminate against certain demographics and create barriers for economically disadvantaged individuals, but ID.me claims that no one will be left behind and that they do not sell biometric information.

Opinions

The IRS's new requirement for facial recognition and personal identification documents aims to reduce fraud cases involving IRS payments.
ID.me's 1:1 face match technology is compared to the technology used to unlock a smartphone, and the company claims that no demographic groups have failed to be properly recognized.
Critics argue that this technology may misidentify women, people of color, and gender-nonconforming individuals, and create undue hurdles for economically disadvantaged Americans, seniors, and other groups.
ID.me has partnered with "Sterling" to provide 650 in-person identity verification locations throughout the country, ensuring that no one is left behind.
This new requirement is becoming a standard practice across many government sites and online brokerages and banks, indicating a shift towards increased digital identity verification.
Some argue that this development is a sign of the era of "Big Brother," with increased government surveillance and control.
Comparisons are drawn between the US and China regarding consumer protections and guidelines for facial recognition technology use.

Finance

The IRS Wants Your Picture and Your License

Big Brother wants your details

Photo by Stacey Gabrielle Koenitz Rozells

Starting in 2022, the IRS is now requiring those who want to set up new accounts online to register their picture with them. This is through a partnership that the US Government now has with a firm called ID.me.

It also wants your driver’s license and/or passport picture.

By mid-2022, anyone (not just new online accounts) who wants to go online to access their IRS account will need to use this facial recognition software. It will be needed to pay your bill online and access information online.

Here is what CNET says about this new facial recognition requirement:

“An ID.me account is currently required to create a new online IRS account. If you have an IRS account name and password that you created before ID.me was implemented, that account will still work until summer 2022. The IRS has not given a specific date for when the old accounts must be converted over to ID.me accounts.”

Photo by Dominique ROELLINGER from Pexels

Now you will need to use this system to do the following:

Viewing and printing online transcripts,
making tax payments and applying for payment plans,
monitoring Economic Impact Payments like stimulus checks and
requesting Identity Protection PINs.

So get used to it — you will need to upload the selfie picture and driver’s license/passport picture. By year-end 2022, an ID.me-verified account will be needed to access most areas of your online IRS account.

Why Does The IRS Need Facial Recognition?

The IRS says that it needs this information in order to reduce fraud. There has been an increase in fraud cases involving IRS payments, according to Lena Petrova, CPA. This is designed to eliminate that issue. Her Youtube video on this issue is very informative.

ID.me says it does not sell biometric information.

Moreover, ID.me says that its 1:1 face match technology is comparable to the technology used to unlock a smartphone.

Critics Say the Technology Discriminates

Some critics say that this technology misidentifies women, people of color, and gender-nonconforming individuals.

In addition, the need for a smartphone or webcam-enabled computer creates undue hurdles for economically disadvantaged Americans, seniors, and other groups.

In other words, if you can’t figure out how to take a selfie, you are going to have a problem with ID.me.

But ID.me says that no one will be left behind. It is already a provider of digital identity to 70 million Americans, 10 federal agencies, 30 states, and 540 companies. It’s figured out how to do this.

ID.me says there are no demographic groups, including groups with different skin tones, that have failed to be properly recognized. In addition, it says that it has partnered with “Sterling” (not clear what that refers to) to provide 650 in-person identity verification locations throughout the country.

Bottom Line — Get Used To It

Right now, you have to do something similar to this already to set up new online personal accounts at several online brokerages and banks. This is going to become the standard practice across many government sites, not just the IRS, as well.

So people are simply going to have to get used to it. It is also a sign of the times. The era of Big Brother is now clearly on us.

By the way, even in China, where facial recognition is now off the scale, certain consumer protections have been forced on various governments and corporations. This is according to a recent article in the Washington Post which cited a new set of “guidelines” imposed by a high court there.

The rules say that hotels, shopping malls, airports, and other commercial venues must get consent from customers to use facial recognition. Another guideline was that use of the technology cannot exceed what is necessary, and companies must take measures to protect the data.

It remains to be seen whether the IRS and other US governmental authorities will feel constrained to be held under similar guidelines that even the Chinese people have rights to.

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