An investigation into the IRS’s decision to demand ID.me “Selfies” has been called for by Republicans.

In the midst of controversy over taxpayers’ new online facial recognition process, a group of Republican senators on the Finance Committee made a formal appeal to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to ZDNet, Senators requested additional information about the IRS’s decision to incorporate ID.me facial recognition technology into their process through a written appeal.

IRS decision to use ID.ME

IRS announced in November of last year that taxpayers would be required to have an active ID.me account by summer to access online resources.

After the IRS signed an 86 million dollar contract with the company, things started to go downhill fast.

Anyone who wants to check on the status of a tax return, make an online payment or see their account balances and payments received online will be impacted by this decision for the time being.

Creating an ID.me account will be required in all cases. The company may require personal documents such as a government ID, passport, or birth certificate; a W-2 form; a selfie; or any other documents they deem necessary.

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An outcry from privacy experts

Concerns have been raised about the security of such sensitive and private data and documents from unauthorized access and cyberattacks.

This situation has outraged many privacy experts.

They want to know why the IRS would hire a company like ID.me, which has a history of dishonesty, to handle their tax returns.

Many experts are concerned about this because of the sensitive information the company would have access to while working with the IRS.

The 15 Republican senators who signed the letter addressed to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig read, “This unprecedented volume of sensitive, personal data should be a cause for concern for any IRS contractor who manages, collects, and stores it.

Also Read: As a taxpayer, you’re asking for trouble if you play the audit lottery.’ What you call ‘business’ expenses have a cost.

To put this in perspective, the IRS estimates that in 2019, it was subjected to 1.4 billion cyber-attacks each year.

Therefore, ID.me is a prime target for cyber-criminals, rogue employees, and espionage because of its reported 70 million users, which includes biometric data “, it’s a good idea too.

The letter also asks why ID.me was hired by the IRS for this process and includes a number of questions. Answers had to be provided by February 15, 2022, per the letter.