ID Is Not "Racism": New Identity Verification Required For Unemployment Benefits

[G.L.R.]

New Identity Authentication Requirement for Unemployment Spreads Across the Country

August 6, 2021


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Pennsylvania now requires individuals filing for unemployment compensation to prove their identity before receiving payments
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In an effort to prevent fraudulent claims which have plagued the online unemployment system, Pennsylvania has hired ID.me, a McLean, Virginia-based company, to authenticate users. Since 2020, some 27 states have hired ID.me for unemployment verification, including Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. "We are also now under contract with an additional two states....

ID.me's online authentication process begins with a request for permission to use details from the user's credit profile and other public sources. Soon after that, the system requires users to consent to ID.me collecting their Social Security number and biometric data. The user cannot continue the process or receive unemployment without consenting. The fine print explains ID.me may collect facial biometrics and voiceprints. Users upload an image of a driver's license or passport, and a current "selfie" image taken with their smartphone. In some cases, a video selfie is used. "We use these images to create a facial geometry or faceprint which we use for purposes of identity verification and to prevent the fraudulent creation of multiple accounts in a fraudulent manner," the agreement explains. Users may also be required to call ID.me and leave a voice recording that is used to create a voiceprint. "We use this voiceprint for identity verification and to prevent the creation of multiple ID.me accounts in a fraudulent manner," the agreement explains.

The complaints generally fall into one of two categories. Some are people who are not computer savvy and through the pandemic, have been laid off for the first time in their lives. They need help navigating ID.me and worry about submitting to facial recognition and handing their Social Security number over to a third-party company. ... If there is a problem, ID.me says cases will be handled on a video conference by a "trusted referee," but Schott said some clients have told him that the video conference never happened, others told him ID.me's trusted referees seemed more hostile than helpful, acting as if they were speaking with a fraudster instead of helping them solve the problem.

About 90 percent of people verify their identity through the automated process in about five minutes, Michael said. Applicants' selfie photo or video is compared to the photo on their passport or driver's license through facial recognition. People who do not have a presence in records, are recent immigrants, or have no credit history have difficulty proving their identity online, he said. "ID.me is the only vendor in the country that offers identity verification through a video chat with one of our trusted referees,"... In late July, Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry informed applicants of regular (not pandemic-related) unemployment that they are required to verify their identity through ID.me to start or continue receiving payments. There is likely another contract to cover this new service but the Department of Labor and Industry was unable to produce it or say how much it is paying ID.me.

New Identity Authentication Requirement for Unemployment Spreads Across the Country
https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/invasive-new-identity-authentication-for-unemployment-spreading-across-country_3935482.html

[Aleister Adams]

Major chimpout forthcoming.88