John,

It’s not every day we get to say this: we just won big.

After we sounded the alarm and organized a coalition of groups and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the IRS has officially canceled plans to submit taxpayers facial recognition as part of its identity verification process on IRS.gov.^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}

We partnered with Algorithmic Justice League and others to get your messages into lawmakers, made sure the press was paying attention, and reached out to dozens of lawmakers’ offices, held a bunch of meetings with staffers, and fired off countless tweets targeting the IRS and ID.me (the company providing the facial verification tool).

This is an enormous victory and will actually protect millions of people who would have otherwise had to submit their most sensitive biometric information in order to access basic tax information.

So first, let’s do a little virtual celebration dance together :)

And next, let’s keep up the momentum and stop even more government agencies from using facial recognition on people. Sign our updated petition calling for all government agencies to dump ID.me and stop requiring people to submit to facial recognition.

A number of Federal agencies, including Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, and the Patent and Trademark Office – plus 30 states – still have contracts with ID.me for dangerous facial recognition technology.

With all of the attention the IRS’ decision is receiving from the media and lawmakers in Washington, we have a critical opportunity right now to push for an end to these contracts. If this tech isn’t appropriate for the IRS, it isn’t appropriate for any other government body.

Demand that all government agencies using ID.me immediately end those contracts and any other plans to use biometrics for identity verification.

We know how “small” signing a petition can sometimes feel—but this IRS win is a reminder that every single signature, every tweet, every email, and every press quote plays an invaluable role in building up enough pressure to tip the scales and usher in a victory.

So, let’s keep at it: Sign the petition demanding an end to all government contracts with ID.me.

With so much gratitude and trust in our collective power,

Leila and the team at Fight

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Footnotes:

1. CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/irs-id-me-tax-return-alternatives/

2. Ron Wyden Twitter: https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1490715667468890112

3. Senate Finance Committee: https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/republicans-raise-serious-concerns-with-intrusive-irs-identity-verification-measures

4. Senator Wicker Press Release: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2022/2/wicker-questions-irs-security-system-requiring-taxpayers-to-submit-video-selfie

5. Representative Lieu Press Release: https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-eshoo-jayapal-and-clarke-urge-irs-halt-plan-use-facial

6. Senator Blunt Press Release: https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-blunt-and-merkley-demand-the-immediate-halt-of-any-internal-revenue-services-irs-programs-using-american-taxpayers-biometric-data

7. Fox News: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/irs-facial-recognition-software-taxpayers-ban-legislation

8. New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/us/politics/irs-idme-facial-recognition.html

 

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