Id.me coming to WA after dropped by IRS
IRS has dropped ID.me's facial recognition tech after backlash, but Washington state will roll it out in June
by Lauren Rosenblatt, The Seattle Times
facial recognition
Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Washington state is getting ready to roll out the ID.me facial recognition system dropped by the IRS last month over privacy and equity concerns.
Human rights activists and some federal lawmakers are asking state government officials, including in Washington, to ban the system. Amid the outcry, Washington's Employment Security Department says it doesn't use ID.me to verify the identities of people claiming jobless benefits—but plans to start doing so in June.
"Recently, we launched a competitive procurement process to secure a tool claimants would use to verify their identity before applying for benefits," said Nick Demerice, director of public affairs. ID.me, Demerice said, was the winning vendor.
Sold as a way to help stop scammers from accessing unemployment aid by adding an extra layer of security, ID.me offers government agencies and other customers a way to verify an individual's identity using information like a driver's license, Social Security number and a facial scan. The system prompts each user to take a "video selfie," holding the camera in front of their face to scan until they see a green check mark.
ID.me's technology is already used in 27 states' unemployment systems, as well as several federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Four states credited the system with preventing $210 billion in fraud, ID.me says.
Washington launched a pilot project with ID.me in 2021, part of its efforts to combat a spike in fraud in spring 2020, Demerice said. Washington state officials found $1.6 million in fraudulent claims in March and April of that year, leading them to temporarily halt unemployment benefits.
The state did not implement the ID.me system following the pilot.
Recently, ID.me's facial recognition technology has come under fire for the amount of information it collects from applicants, which opponents of the system worry could be misused, resold or stolen.
Critics also say the system creates barriers that prevent people from accessing unemployment aid. The tech is not accessible to people who don't have smartphones, computers or internet access. Facial recognition technology, they contend, also perpetuates racial biases.
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Original article seattletimes.com March 2
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