The IRS is reportedly looking for ID.me alternatives amid privacy concerns

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The IRS and the Treasury Department are looking for alternatives to the facial recognition software ID.me, according to a report. The agencies didn't mention a reason for the possible change and didn't mention any privacy concerns about the service.

The Treasury Department believes in the importance of protecting the privacy of taxpayers, and that the IRS is constantly looking for ways to make the filing process more secure.

The IRS plans to start requiring people who file their taxes online to register with a third-party facial recognition company. Users will have to use a mobile device or aWebcam to take a video selfies to verify their identity through the service. The program is supposed to be rolled out this summer by the IRS.

The CEO of ID.me admitted that the company uses technology that matches faces against a larger database. Politicians, the American Civil Liberties Union, and digital rights advocates have already spoken out about the IRS use of the software.

The US government uses ID.me to verify people's identities. A number of people who used ID.me to verify their state benefits had their applications put on hold due to possible issues with the software.