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Taking a selfie may seem like no big deal: Just aim your phone’s camera at your face and click the button. But taking a selfie so that a company can use facial recognition technology to verify your identity – in order to engage in a basic government service like paying your taxes – makes it a very big deal. That’s why news that the IRS is planning to require taxpayers who want to file online to create an account with a private facial recognition company called ID.me has sparked a backlash.
The process is simple – just upload a selfie along with a photo ID. And the IRS says it’s necessary to cut down on identity theft. But the experiences many people have had using the system at state agencies that already require it for accessing services like unemployment benefits is less than reassuring, according to James Hendler, who studies artificial intelligence and the use of data in government.
The computer scientist explores concerns about the cutting-edge technology, why government agencies are increasingly using it and whether ID.me will protect your data.
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Beginning this summer, you might need to upload a selfie and a photo ID to a private company, ID.me, if you want to file your taxes online.
Oscar Wong/Moment via Getty Images
James Hendler, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Federal and state governments are turning to a facial recognition company to ensure that people accessing services are who they say they are. The move promises to cut down on fraud, but at what cost?
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Environment + Energy
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Oliver Wing, University of Bristol; Carolyn Kousky, University of Pennsylvania; Jeremy Porter, City University of New York; Paul Bates, University of Bristol
A street-by-street analysis shows where the risks are rising fastest and also lays bare the inequities of who has to endure America’s crippling flood problem.
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Jeanne Homer, Oklahoma State University
As more people move into high fire-risk areas and rebuilding after destructive blazes, an architect explains what to do to keep properties as safe as possible.
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Ethics + Religion
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Mario Poceski, University of Florida
The Lunar New Year celebrations that start on Feb. 1 will go on for a week. It is the year of the tiger, considered in Chinese culture as the foremost among all beasts.
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Health + Medicine
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Tamara Hew-Butler, Wayne State University
In some cases, fever reducers and extra fluid intake can weaken the body’s response to infection.
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Science + Technology
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Evan Thomas Saitta, University of Chicago
The lack of large numbers of fossils makes it hard to study sexual dimorphism in dinosaurs. But a new statistical approach offers insight into this question and others across science.
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Anastasia Brodovskaya, University of Virginia; Jaideep Kapur, University of Virginia
Many people with epilepsy are unable to remember what happened immediately before they have a seizure. This may be because seizures and memory use the same pathways of the brain.
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Politics + Society
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Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology
In the past, the lack of a succession plan for China has led to political unrest in the country. If it happens again, it will also affect the world.
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