Due to privacy criticism, the IRS website abandoned the use of facial recognition to verify identity

On February 7, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it would abandon the use of the Third Party Identification System. The system collects facial information from users to verify their identity when they use the IRS website.

The system is understood to be provided by a company called ID.me, with which the IRS signed a two-year contract for $86 million. The system was scheduled to go live fully this summer. Over the past few months, though, the system has been used in some features of the IRS website, such as confirming payments, accessing tax records, and more. But the system has been heavily criticized for collecting sensitive biometrics.

On Feb. 7, four members of Congress, Ted Lieu, AnnaEshoo, Pramila Jayapal, and Yvette Clarke, wrote to IRS Commissioner ChuckRettig raising concerns about the cybersecurity risks posed by private companies collecting facial data. Lawmakers also pointed to the problem of algorithmic discrimination — studies have shown that facial recognition systems are often built based on inherent racial biases, which makes the technology much less accurate at identifying non-white people.

"To be clear, Americans did not choose to give their biometric data to private contractors to access the IRS website. They were forced to do so. The letter reads.

Subsequently, the IRS said it would abandon the technology in the coming weeks and would switch to other forms of authentication that don't collect facial images. "The IRS takes taxpayer privacy and security seriously, and we understand people's concerns." CHUCK Rettig, director of the IRS, said, "Everyone should be happy with how their personal information is protected, and we are looking for options that don't involve facial recognition as soon as possible." ”

Notably, in choosing to roll out facial recognition technology, the IRS came into conflict with the federal government's own General Services Administration, which has publicly pledged not to use facial recognition technology unless such systems are "rigorously vetted" to assess whether it will cause unforeseen harm. The General Services Administration's existing authentication methods do not require people to provide biometric data, but instead rely on scanning government records and credit reports.

Synthesis/Compilation: Nandu reporter Li Yaning