Breitbart By UPI
Feb. 21 (UPI) — After an initial backlash over its facial recognition feature, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday it started a new option that will allow taxpayers to sign up for online accounts without the use of the controversial biometric data.
Taxpayers wanting to use its services online will still have to use ID.me to register, but people will have the option of verifying their identity during a “live virtual interview” instead of uploading a video selfie.
“This is consistent with the IRS’s commitment earlier this month to transition away from the requirement for taxpayers creating an IRS online account to provide a selfie to a third-party service to help authenticate their identity,” the IRS said in a statement.
ID.me said in its own statement that the verification process with an agent will take from 5-10 minutes, not including the wait time for the next available video chat agent.
The IRS said taxpayers will still have the option to use facial recognition if they like through ID.me…
