Digital activists can celebrate a memorable victory after the IRS ditched a controversialfacial recognitionsystem.
Last year, avendor called ID.me was awarded an $86 million contract to deploy and maintain the system.
The decision sparked a furious backlash from advocacy groups.
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ID.mehas beenaccused of misrepresentingits tech, andisnt subject to the same oversight rules as government agencies.
The uproar caught the attention of politicians.
Ina letter to the IRS Commissioner, four members of Congressurged the agency to halt this plan.
Hours later,the IRS announcedit would transition away from the service.
The reversal set a powerful example for future digital activism.
They includeJoy Buolamwini and Timnit Gebru,whoselandmark 2018 studyshowed the software disproportionately misclassified Black women.
Two years later,a federal government studyreached the same conclusion.
Indeed, the victory could further fuel the eruption indigital activism sparked by COVID-19.
Digital uprisings
The campaign against the IRS was largely fought online.
This is particularly true when it comes to the implementation of dangerous technologies like facial recognition.
The campaign isnt complete yet.
There are still numerous government agencies that have contracts with facial recognition suppliers such as ID.me.
Ultimately, we need strong federal legislation for algorithmic accountability, said Costanza-Chock.
We can win this when people with lived experience of harm from unjust and unchecked technological systems organize together.
FRT is far from the onlyAIthat threatenshuman rights.But the IRS U-turn shows online activism can help reverse their rollout.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
