Four congressional Democrats wrote to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig on Monday urging the agency to pause its use of facial-recognition technology for taxpayers logging into their IRS.gov accounts, citing concerns about privacy, data security and access for people without internet access.
"[M]illions of Americans use the IRS website annually for a variety of vital functions, and, as a result, each of them will be forced to trust a private contractor with some of their most sensitive data," Reps. Ted Lieu, Anna Eshoo, Pramila Jayapal and Yvette Clarke said in a letter to Rettig."We urge the IRS to halt this plan and consult with a wide variety of stakeholders before deciding on an alternative.
The lawmakers said that using a third party to verify taxpayers' identity endangers them by compiling sensitive information into a biometric database that would be"a prime target for cyberattacks." They cite a 2019 incident in which a government contractor's computer system was breached, exposing thousands of Americans' faces and license plates.
At the same time, the verification software"discriminates against those unable to afford reliable broadband and the required video capabilities," they write. Facial-recognition technology in general has been demonstrated to be less accurate in identifying people with darker skin tones, as well as on Black, Asian and Native American faces. Other factors, such as the lighting of a room or the device someone is using, also play a role.
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