(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 23, 2022) The IRS clarified that the news was "grossly wrong" when the media said that users of the IRS online tool were required to verify their identity by taking a selfie. The picture shows the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington. (Photo from Getty Images).

Media reports said that starting this summer, taxpayers who want to use IRS online tools will have to verify their identities through selfies and the account of security technology contractor ID.me, but an IRS spokesman clarified the news is "terribly wrong”.

Existing online accounts on the IRS website only require a set of emails and passwords to access data, but the IRS said this method will no longer work this summer.

The IRS move is intended to protect taxpayers from potential identity theft; privacy advocacy groups say this approach violates personal privacy, and ID.me itself has a dark history.

Jackie Singh, director of technology and operations at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a privacy advocacy group, tweeted, "It only makes the problem worse when their data inevitably leak."

Government data estimates that the IRS online service, which requires identity verification starting this summer, was used 60 million times last fiscal year.

An IRS spokesperson did not respond to a CBS News inquiry about how many new ID.me accounts it has, saying only those nationals do not need to upload a selfie or create a new ID.me account when filing their tax refund.

"The IRS reiterates that taxpayers can submit tax information without providing a selfie or verifying information through a third-party company, including debiting a bank account, swiping a card, and without the use of facial recognition technology," the spokesperson said.

However, taxpayers will need to log into the new secure system to view past payments to access child tax credit information.

The IRS has struggled to preserve taxpayer data, even shutting down its online service in 2015 due to identity theft.

"Privacy and data theft are significant events for the IRS, which is terrified of hackers, and improvements are made to optimize the system and ensure data is protected," said Daniel Morris, a California accountant.

However, ID.me is not infallible. A California senator criticized ID.me at the time for "overwhelming thousands of legal applicants," Bloomberg reported.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)