John,

The IRS will soon ask taxpayers to submit their biometric information in order to access information on IRS.gov – a creepy and disturbing strike at your privacy and security.¹
ID.me, the company hired to manage the IRS’ new ‘identity verification system,’ has been building massive databases of people’s most sensitive personal information through state and local government contracts since the start of the pandemic. These databases represent one of the biggest threats to our safety in the digital age. They’re prime targets for abusive law enforcement agencies seeking to track and surveil,² and for malicious hackers that want to steal your irreplaceable personal data.³
Tell the IRS: immediately cancel all plans to use dangerous ID.me facial recognition.

Not only has ID.me’s faulty tech forced people across the country to wait for months to receive their unemployment benefits,⁴ it was also revealed last week that despite recent claims to the contrary, the company does in fact use “one-to-many” facial recognition technology. This highly invasive form of facial recognition searches for matches of your face in massive external databases – tech that the CEO of ID.me himself has called "problematic.”⁵
Sign the petition demanding the IRS immediately cancel all plans to subject taxpayers to creepy and invasive facial recognition.

A company that provides inaccurate information about their tools is simply not a responsible steward of taxpayers’ sensitive biometric data. Now that the Treasury Department is beginning to consider alternatives to the IRS’ proposed use of facial recognition,⁶ it’s more important than ever that we make our voices heard: Facial recognition and all forms of biometric data collection fundamentally threaten our safety and privacy. The IRS must cancel its plans to subject taxpayers to biometric surveillance now.

With enough grassroots pressure on the agency and legislators in Washington, we can force the IRS to walk back one of the largest proposed expansions of government biometric surveillance in recent history.

Together for the future of privacy,

Leila

Footnotes:

Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.