The Internal Revenue Service will drop its controversial use of facial recognition for authenticating individuals creating new online accounts. The agency said this week it will transition over weeks to avoid larger disruptions during filing season.
The tool had drawn wide criticism, including from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. The IRS announced in November it was using the services of ID.me to replace existing users names for a wide variety of services.
The IRS said in its prepared statement about the decision to back trakc that , it “will quickly develop and bring online an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind