House Dems Say Facial Recognition Company Made ‘baseless Claims’
The identity verification firm ID.me “inaccurately overstated” its capabilities to federal agencies, according to an investigation from the House Oversight committee.
House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney said ID.me downplayed how long Americans had to wait to have their identities verified when applying for unemployment benefits. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
11/22/2022 05:11 PM EST
An identity verification company that received millions in government contracts allegedly misrepresented how well it was serving Americans, according to Democratic leaders on the House Oversight committee.
In findings released on Thursday, the committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Rep. James Clyburn , the chair of the subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis, said ID.me downplayed how long Americans had to wait to have their identities verified when applying for unemployment benefits. The lawmakers also said the company made baseless claims about how much the US government loses to unemployment fraud to increase demand for its identity verification services.
ID.me uses facial recognition provided by third-party services to help authenticate people who apply for government resources like unemployment benefits. In February, the IRS dropped its plans to use ID.mes facial recognition for taxpayer verification because of a backlash over privacy and facial recognition.
News10nbc Investigates: Many Struggle To Get Through Idme Process
Jennifer Lewke
ROCHESTER, N.Y. Billions of your tax dollars have gone out the door and into the hands of scammers who ripped off New York States unemployment system at the height of the pandemic.
In an effort to plug some of the many holes in an antiquated system, New York is now using an identity verification tool called ID.me but News10NBC has heard from a number of legitimate claimants who are having trouble getting through the verification process in order to get the benefits they need.
Norine Damico worked through the pandemic and then in April of this year, she got laid off. She called the New York State Department of Labor right away to file for unemployment benefits.
They said you had to do it online so, I go to the library and worked on that,she told News10NBC.
Initially, she thought she got through the process fine.
The next Sunday I called and they said your claim has been processed and I thought, Oh good everything went through and then nothing happens, Damico said.
Weeks went by before a notice popped up in her online account saying she needed to go through the ID.me process to verify her identity.
Damico went to a friends house and followed the directions that were provided.
Damico uploaded the selfie but again, still no benefits.
Damico has now been waiting 19 weeks for benefits.
Every week I call and Im getting nowhere, its about $3,000, its only $168 a week but that $168 a week covers groceries, medical, and gas you know, she told News10NBC.
Job Service North Dakota Unemployment Benefits
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Do It Right The First Time
Many people sent in their documents and then after waiting for a few weeks found out that there was something wrong. Keeping to the 5 points below should avoid much frustration:
- Take photos of the front and back of your ID. This applies to all documents, including birth certificates. A number of people sent just the front of the birth certificate and were told they need to send the back too. Now, this does not seem logical, as the back of the birth certificates donât usually have any person-specific information . However, better be paid than be logical ðIf you are sending in your passport, make sure the picture includes both the page with your information as well as the signature page.
- All ID that has a signature line needs to be signed Check your Passport and Social Security card
- Signatures need to be visible in the photos
- No expired documents
- If you changed your name when you got married, and have different last names on your work or ID, you should send the marriage license as one of your ID documents in order to prove the authenticity of both last names.
What Happens After Id Is Submitted
The DOL will process it and contact you if they need more information from you. Sometimes it takes weeks for them to let you know, or worse, there might be no correspondence at all. So wait a few days after submitting your documents and if your âeffective days remainingâ donât start going down within a week, call the DOL to see what the holdup is.
Itâs not easy to get through to the DOL. Read some tips here. Ask for a Tier 3 specialist. The ones who answer the phones are Tier 1 representatives who usually canât help with ID issues. They might tell you to wait it out or some other answer to keep you happy, but you should insist on speaking to a Tier 3 representative who can actually assist you.
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Dinapoli: Problems Caused By Outdated System Left State’s Unemployment Insurance Program Vulnerable To Fraud
The state Department of Labors failure to replace its long-troubled Unemployment Insurance system and ad hoc workarounds to compensate for the old system weakened oversight and ultimately contributed to an estimated billions of dollars in improper payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an audit released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. DOL refused to provide auditors with the data that would have enabled auditors to calculate the precise amount of improper payments and was slow to provide requested information that delayed the completion of the audit. The audit examined the period from Jan. 2020 to March 2022.
The state Department of Labors antiquated UI system was ill-equipped to handle the challenges posed by the extraordinary demand caused by the pandemic for unemployment benefits and more lenient federal eligibility requirements, DiNapoli said. The agency resorted to stop-gap measures to paper over problems, and this proved to be costly to the state, businesses, and New Yorkers. DiNapoli said. The department needs to recoup fraudulent payments and correct its mistakes. I was pleased the department agreed with our recommendations and is moving to implement them.
- The number of claims that were paid to fraudulent claimants before being detected
- The length of time from when claims were filed to when they were identified as fraudulent and
- How the claims were identified as fraudulent .
The audit recommended DOL:
Audit
Nevada Department Of Employment Training And Rehabilitationunemployment Benefits
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How To Complete Your Idme Verification
When signing into your DES account, click on the ID.me link provided to create your ID.me account, secure your account and verify your identity. This step-by-step guide walks you through the steps to complete your verification. ID.me also offers identification verification by video-chat with trained and certified staff members. View the video-chat step-by-step guide to learn how to verify though a video call.
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The City Of San Diegogolf Course Residency Verification
Opting Out May Be Arduous
Beyond state unemployment agencies, ID.me is also becoming more widespread among federal agencies such as the IRS, which in June began using ID.me to verify identities of people who want to use its Child Tax Credit Update Portal.
Were verifying more than 1% of the American adult population each quarter, and thats starting to compress more to like 45 or 50 days, Hall said. The company has more than 50 million users, he said, and signs up more than 230,000 new ones each day. And, as Hall pointed out, if someone verifies their identity with ID.me for one government agency, that person can avoid going through the process again for another agency.
Yet not everyone who starts the ID.me process finishes. Don Lyon, who works in manufacturing for General Motors and lives in Richmond, Michigan, said he abandoned ID.me after a number of problems, including ID.mes failure to match his drivers license photo with the selfie he took on his phone.
Lyon, who was trying to verify his identity with ID.me in order to opt out from receiving child tax credit payments from the IRS, noted some visual differences between the pictures: hes about 30 pounds heavier now and has a full beard, he said, rather than a mustache and goatee. Lyon said he was asked to provide more personally identifiable information and he eventually found a way to avoid ID.me and verify his identity directly with the IRS.
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Us Senators Urge Ditching Idme Face Recognition For Jobless Benefits
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb 15 – Three U.S. senators on Tuesday called on the Department of Labor to help states find alternatives to identity verification provider ID.me for screening people seeking unemployment aid because they said its technology raises serious privacy and civil liberties concerns.
The Internal Revenue Service last week dropped mandatory verification through ID.me for people filing their taxes online this year. But about half of U.S. states still use ID.me, which employs a mix of facial recognition technology and video-chat interviews, to confirm the identity of unemployment applicants. Other states have used rival tools. read more
Activists have argued that facial recognition remains too faulty for use in government applications, and that people should have more privacy and control over face scans.
ID.me declined to comment on the request, which came in a letter from Democratic Senators Ron Wyden, Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren.
A day after the IRS announcement, ID.me said it would allow users to bypass facial recognition and proceed to a manual check. It has said security and equitable access are top priorities.
States have called ID.me valuable for curbing record unemployment assistance fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic. But some legitimate applicants experienced delays after facial recognition failed to verify their identity and long waits for interviews with manual verifiers ensued.
ID.me says it has 73 million users.
United States Patent And Trademark Officelegal
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Certify For Your Weekly Benefits Online
Refer to this step by step process on how to certify for your weekly benefits:
Note: If you have a service that makes your internet address anonymous, please turn it off when claiming weekly benefits. Otherwise, your certification may be blocked.
Ready? Make sure you have with you:
You will need an NY.gov ID to sign up for an online account. If you already have an NY.gov ID username and password, you can use it for our system. If you do not have an NY.gov ID, follow the instructions on our website at labor.ny.gov/signin to create one.
If you have difficulties with NY.gov ID, call the Contact Center at 800-833-3000 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday
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Liability Conditions By Business Type
General Business
General business employers are liable on:
- The first day of the calendar quarter you pay remuneration of $300 or more, – or –
- The day you obtain any or all of the business of a liable employer
Non-Profit Employers
Non-profit employers are liable:
- On the first day of the calendar quarter you pay remuneration of $1,000 or more, – or –
- As of the first day of the calendar year you employ four or more workers on at least one day in each of 20 different weeks during that year or the prior calendar year
Household Employers
Employers of household help are liable the first day of any calendar quarter you pay remuneration of $500 or more.
Agricultural Employers
Effective January 1, 2020, employers of agricultural labor are liable as of:
- The first day of any calendar quarter after January 1, 2020 in which you pay remuneration of $300 or more, – or –
- The day you obtain any or all of the business of a liable employer
Note: If you have questions about liability prior to January 1, 2020, call the Employer Hotline at 888-899-8810.
Government Employers
Government employers are liable the first day of the calendar quarter you pay remuneration to employees in covered employment. It does not matter how much remuneration you pay or the number of employees.
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Which Documents To Send
Sometimes the DOL will ask you for specific documents. If thatâs the case, then send in what they asked for. For example, this one person was asked to send in a picture of himself holding his ID and another person was asked to send in a NY utility bill.
If you received a generic request for documents, either via form or letter in the mail, or if you havenât received any messages, but think that this might be the problem, then send pictures of the front and back of three documents.
Generic letter requesting IDForm Requesting ID
I have seen too many inconsistencies in what the DOL requires to verify ID, so try to cover your bases and send in more documents rather than less. You are generally meant to send in 3 pieces of ID. If you have 4 valid pieces of ID, you may as well send in all 4.
The documents listed below should be your first choice.
First ID: Social Security Card
Second ID: If you have a NY State ID , then send that as your second ID. If you donât have NY State ID but do have a Medicaid card, then send that. If you donât have a NY State ID or Medicaid card, but do have a school ID, send that.
Third ID: Birth certificate or Passport: If you didnât send a NY State ID, then send your birth certificate and passport. Even if you did send in your State ID and Birth Certificate, send your passport as a 4th ID.
More ID Options
If you canât get to three pieces of ID using the options above, here are some more ID options.
- Social Security card
- Out-of-State ID
