Feb. 21 (UPI) — After an initial backlash over its facial recognition feature, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday it started a new option that will allow taxpayers to sign up for online accounts without the use of the controversial biometric data.
Taxpayers wanting to use its services online will still have to use ID.me to register, but people will have the option of verifying their identity during a “live virtual interview” instead of uploading a video selfie.
“This is consistent with the IRS’s commitment earlier this month to transition away from the requirement for taxpayers creating an IRS online account to provide a selfie to a third-party service to help authenticate their identity,” the IRS said in a statement.
ID.me said in its own statement that the verification process with an agent will take from 5-10 minutes, not including the wait time for the next available video chat agent.
The IRS said taxpayers will still have the option to use facial recognition if they like through ID.me.
“For taxpayers who select this option, new requirements are in place to ensure images provided by taxpayers are deleted for the account being created,” the IRS said. “Any existing biometric data from taxpayers who previously created an IRS Online Account that has already been collected will also be permanently deleted over the course of the next few weeks.”
Earlier this month, the IRS said it would “transition away” from requiring taxpayers to take selfies and verify their identities through ID.me following concerns about privacy and data security.