For those living in the US do you trust ID.me? Why?
Isn’t this a huge privacy invasive centralized government database? Is there a workaround?
The only workaround is to not use ID.me in the first place. This is difficult especially as many governmental agencies like the IRS requires it for their online services.
I figure that you would need some form of ID verification anyways. Shame that this specific method is required to access basic functionality.
ID.me is also not a federal database as it’s a private company with substantial partnerships with specific government agencies and retailers. Besides the IRS or military-related tasks, you only really need to use them if you’re trying to access veteran discounts or something similar. It is not widely adopted as a standard yet, so you shouldn’t be TOO worried about it being a centralized database yet.
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ID dot me has a poor track record as well, Identity check contractor ID.me fires dozens on fraud team as Congress probes. Which, I suspect means all of their business practices are suspect.
Never upload your ID to any website, ever. Always do verification in person. ID dot me offers in-person verification here. I’m not sure if it’s better than online because it still requires one uploads their most sensitive documents to some 3rd party cloud provider.
I don’t know why IRS insists on solely using ID dot me, but login dot gov works far better if you have a passport or other US Govt-backed identification.
Read ID dot me’s terms of service, privacy policy, and biometric privacy policy very carefully. Even under strict state privacy laws, you can’t remove nor stop the sharing of your data.
I wonder if Americans shouldn’t be paying more attention to this identity check contractor that is used by government institutions. I’m surprised that we didn’t discuss much about it before.
Do you mean they should be paying more attention to it? If so, I agree. I learn something new everyday about how my privacy is invaded. It actually blows my mind how society has normalized such a thing like this, so much so that there’s an industry that preys on our privacy. I really, really wonder if the values and ideals held by those such as this community can ever become the norm, because that is the only way change could be implemented largescale.