ID.me: Difference between revisions

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==Consumer-impact summary==

According to the privacy policy, ID.me "will not sell, rent, or trade your Personal Information", however user information such as biometric, first name, last name, date of birth, phone number, email address, and physical address may be shared with federal government agencies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.id.me/privacy|title=Privacy Policy|date=2024-07-30|work=ID.me|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250710163620/https://www.id.me/privacy|archive-date=2025-07-10|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the company may share user information to third parties, such as customer support, web hosting, information technology, payment processing, direct mail and email distribution, and administration, and analytics services.

When a user requests to close their account, data is retained for three years. This data includes "events, logins, and transactions as well as verification history (e.g., community, vaccine, or identity details including documentation and data elements used for verification". Selfies for initial biometric verification are deleted twenty four hours after completion.<ref name="WSJ">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/taxes/tax-identity-theft-ip-pin-irs-ab021643|title=Protect Yourself From Tax Identity Theft. Here’s How I Did.|first=Laura|last=Saunders|date=2025-02-28|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251122104627/https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/taxes/tax-identity-theft-ip-pin-irs-ab021643|archive-date=22 Nov 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>

ID.me is funded by private equity firms such as Ares Management funds<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/idme-announces-275-million-financing-from-ares-management-302364099.html|title=ID.me Announces $275 Million Financing from Ares Management |date=2025-01-30|work=PR Newswire|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250725034352/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/idme-announces-275-million-financing-from-ares-management-302364099.html|archive-date=2025-07-25|url-status=live}}</ref>, Ribbit Capital, Viking Global Investors, and CapitalG.<ref name="YF">{{Cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/id-announces-closing-secondary-tender-160000827.html|title=ID.me Announces Closing of Secondary Tender|author=PR Newswire|work=Yahoo Finance|date=2024-11-26|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824232352/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/id-announces-closing-secondary-tender-160000827.html|archive-date=2025-08-24|url-status=live}}</ref>

ID.me is the primary verification system used in the United States for businesses and governments, due to the service being "the only digital wallet that meets the federal government standards for secure login and multi-factor authentication [...] at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Identity Assurance Level 2".<ref name="YF" /> As of November 2024, ID.me has over 136 million members, 600+ stores, 65 health organizations, and 19 federal agents using their service.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://id.me/|title=Simple, secure login|work=ID.me|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824233129/https://www.id.me/|archive-date=2025-08-24|url-status=live}}</ref>

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===Privacy concerns (''2022-'')===

[[File:IRS ID.me account.png|thumb|right|The mandatory IRS ID.me log-in screen for an individual, business, and tax professional in 2025 ([https://archive.ph/7e8LS previously] there was an option to use a traditional IRS account)]]

American taxpayers who use DirectFile are forced to utilize ID.me as a service.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fedscoop.com/gao-report-irs-id-me-identity-proofing/|title=Watchdog pushes IRS on stronger oversight of identity-proofing program|first=Matt|last=Bracken|date=2025-06-13|work=FedScoop|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250726073243/https://fedscoop.com/gao-report-irs-id-me-identity-proofing/|archive-date=2025-07-26|url-status=live}}</ref> The IRS have claimed the service is "the only credential service provider currently available to the IRS that meets the identity assurance level 2 standard for identity verification and sign-in services", however, some lawmakers expressed their disapproval of the reliance on ID.me for tax filing, including Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Katie Porter who mention facial recognition's influence in the wrongful arrest of black men.<ref name="TaxNote">{{Cite web|url=https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/legislative-documents/congressional-tax-correspondence/lawmakers-urge-irs-stop-using-flawed-direct-file-id-checker/7lxw8|title=Lawmakers Urge IRS to Stop Using ‘Flawed’ Direct File ID Checker|date=2024-01-08|work=TaxNotes|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824231203/https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/legislative-documents/congressional-tax-correspondence/lawmakers-urge-irs-stop-using-flawed-direct-file-id-checker/7lxw8|archive-date=2025-08-24|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to John Titlow from Business Insider, while trying to change his phone number on his ID.me account to apply for unemployment, the support agent asked for his sensitive information over email, including scans of a passport and social security card.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/never-get-a-new-phone-number-multi-factor-authentication-security-2025-1|title=Take It From Me: Never Get a New Phone Number, It's a Tech Nightmare|first=John|last=Titlow|date=2025-01-12|work=Business Insider|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250729044602/https://www.businessinsider.com/never-get-a-new-phone-number-multi-factor-authentication-security-2025-1|archive-date=2025-07-29|url-status=live}}</ref> It is a standard rule of thumb to never send sensitive information over email due to many email providers such as [[Gmail]] and [[Outlook]] not encrypting the contents of emails.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buffalo.edu/ubit/news/article.host.html/content/shared/www/ubit/news/2019/keep-sensitive-data-safe.html|title= Keep sensitive data safe: don't send in emails|first=Joe|last=Ferguson|date=2021-03-01|work=University of Buffalo|access-date=2025-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824232327/https://www.buffalo.edu/ubit/news/article.host.html/content/shared/www/ubit/news/2019/keep-sensitive-data-safe.html|archive-date=2025-08-24|url-status=live}}</ref>

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