Featured image of post Activists pushed the IRS to drop facial recognition. They won, but they're not done yet

Activists pushed the IRS to drop facial recognition. They won, but they're not done yet

The IRS backed away from a plan to use facial-recognition software to verify users of its website. Privacy and digital rights activists were buzzing about a recent victory. The IRS will keep using facial recognition for the rest of the tax-

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The IRS backed away from a plan to use facial-recognition software to verify users of its website. Privacy and digital rights activists were buzzing about a recent victory. The IRS will keep using facial recognition for the rest of the tax-

Highlights

  • The IRS backed away from using facial-recognition software to verify users of its website.
  • Privacy and digital rights activists were among those urging the IRS to back away from the plan.
  • The IRS will keep using facial recognition software for the rest of the tax-filing season.
  • After this tax season, the agency plans to use Login.Gov, which is a single sign-on method used on many federal government websites (it doesn’t currently use facial recognition) The agency says it will use LoginGov.Gov.
  • to verify taxpayers’ identities after this year’s tax filing season, but people who want to avoid turning over their biometric data can now speak to a human via video chat instead.