Since 2020, 26 states and the District of Columbia have contracted with the biometrics company ID.me for digital identity verification software that requires people to use invasive facial recognition as part of the unemployment insurance application process.

ID.me forces millions of people applying for unemployment benefits to make a terrible compromise. No one should have to give up their privacy, risk their identity being stolen, or have to use discriminatory technology to access funds that are rightfully theirs.

We know from state numbers and many harrowing personal accounts that ID.me’s system is inaccessible and harmful to already marginalized groups. Individuals who aren’t recognized by ID.me’s facial recognition (often times people of color and trans and gender-nonconforming people) are sometimes locked out of their accounts and forced to wait for months for their benefits. And when people try to talk to ID.me’s support, they report being on hold for hours to prove they are who they say they are. Those without reliable internet or technology access, meanwhile, are shut out of their benefits completely.

On top of these major concerns around equity and access, ID.me is a security nightmare. Scammers have successfully taken advantage of ID.me’s system to steal people’s social security numbers and other personal information, and extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from the government.

There’s no denying the reality of these stories: ID.me’s software both causes harm and doesn’t work.

Enough is enough. We need an unemployment insurance system that treats people like human beings – not a system that criminalizes laid-off workers and others. It’s simply unacceptable to try to address the challenges of benefits distribution through invasive technology that threatens individuals’ privacy and puts our communities in danger.

States must immediately shift towards identity verification options that center equity, privacy and accessibility. That means abandoning ID.me and any verification system that involves biometric data collection, facial recognition, or other discriminatory applications of AI.

Broken tech like ID.me’s doesn’t solve identity problems—it just exacerbates existing discrimination. Sign the petition to tell state decision makers to stop requiring facial recognition for unemployment benefits, and to immediately shift towards prioritizing equity, privacy and accessibility within identity verification processes.