A year after outcry, IRS still doesn’t offer taxpayers alternative to ID.me

A year after outcry, IRS still doesn’t offer taxpayers alternative to ID.me
cyberscoop.com

Not so great for sending secret messages, but really great for an identity toehold.

I have tried to get info out of IRS on the topic using FOIA requests, but they have not been forthcoming. I think there is heartburn over the whole ID.me situation (which they rushed into due to return fraud that occurred due to lacking knowledge based proofing systems, and got blindsided by the PR fallout of suboptimal machine vision/facial recognition tech and overzealous marketing).

The article states Charles Rettig, who was then IRS commissioner, argued that login.gov can’t meet their request rate requirements, and yet it serves over 220 agency websites and is the primary identity provider for the Social Security Administration website since September 2021. I would be very interested in the technical challenges being more publicly available versus hand waving by the bureaucracy.

https://secure.ssa.gov/RIL/SiView.action

There was recent funding to have the USPS perform in person identity proofing; login.gov appears to be leveraging this. They are also working to offer login.gov to state unemployment systems concurrently (a colleague is on this team).

https://fcw.com/digital-government/2022/05/postal-service-sh...

https://fcw.com/digital-government/2022/10/labor-department-...

https://www.login.gov/help/verify-your-identity/verify-your-...

https://tcf.org/content/commentary/biden-budget-would-signif...

https://www.gao.gov/assets/730/720919.pdf

> In addition to the forthcoming work with the jobless aid system, USPS is also working with GSA's Login.gov, a shared sign-on and identity proofing service.

> “The Postal Service’s unmatched retail footprint offers a unique opportunity for government agencies, such as the General Services Administration that need to complete an in-person proofing. We are actively working with government agencies to do this today,” a USPS spokesperson told FCW.

> In-person identity proofing is offered for Login.gov at seven USPS locations in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia, according to the Login.gov website. Individuals start the process online and then bring state-issued identification and proof of address to be reviewed in-person to match the digital application with the real person behind it.

My note/opinion: stronger requirements are necessary to enable login.gov to deliver whatever gap private identity providers (id.me) are offering and require federal agencies to use login.gov

Then login.gov can support the addition of known crypto IDs as alternate signatures and a review that can also happen at any of the interaction points (some USPS branches, DoL/DMV, Homeland Security offices for enhanced passport ID stuff).