IRS cancels plan to use facial recognition on millions of taxpayers

Ethan Miller checks the IRS website while working on his taxes at home in Silver Spring, Maryland, last month. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The United States’ Internal Revenue Service will no longer use third-party facial recognition technology on millions of Americans who use the agency’s website to pay taxes or access documents.

The IRS said on Monday it would transition away from using the identity verification company ID.me in the coming weeks and develop a new authentication system that does not use facial recognition. The announcement comes hours after US lawmakers asked the IRS to “halt its plans” to use the technology.