Selfies as passwords? US states trial out this tech

Every face is different - like every thumbprint differs - and both the private and public sector are using this as an advantage to secure services.

Three US State Governments are using selfies to prevent tax fraud - North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia.

“Right now, there's no federal or state stoppage that will prevent a thief who has your personal information from filing a tax return without your knowledge”, said Julie Magee, Commissioner for Alabama’s Department of Revenue, according to Al.com, a local US online publication.

“We remain very frustrated that after somebody's identity has been used to file their tax return, there is very little remediation we can do for them”, she added.

All three states are partnering with MorphoTrust, an identity technology company. The tech will allow citizens to file tax returns using their driver’s license and smartphone camera.

Citizens’ identity will be authenticated when they submit snapshots of their faces to an app. Software analysis then makes detailed facial measurements, and translates these to unique numerical strings.

This is compared against previously submitted photos, where high matches indicate an authentic profile.

“Our unique focus is trying to take the trust we all have with that in-person use of the driver’s license and bring its equivalent to the Internet so you can do business securely online,” Mark DiFraia - senior director at MorphoTrust - told StateScoop.

The Alabama state department spent US$250,000 on the platform, and will roll it out to the public in the next tax season as an opt-in service. Companies and banks like Uber, Mastercard and HSBC are implementing similar technology.