IRS banned from collecting biometric info under proposed Huizenga bill

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) on Feb. 15 led 18 Republicans in introducing legislation that would amend current federal law to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from requiring taxpayers to provide biometric information.

“Too often we have seen the federal government creep further and further into the private lives of Americans,” Rep. Huizenga said, pointing to “the IRS’s history of targeting conservatives and leaking the private information of taxpayers.” 

“It’s clear the IRS should not be allowed to collect or require the use of biometric data,” he said. 

Rep. Huizenga on Tuesday sponsored the Ban IRS Biometrics Act, H.R. 6733, with original cosponsors including U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Nancy Mace (R-SC), John Moolenaar (R-MI), and Vern Buchanan (R-FL). The bill is companion legislation to the same-named S. 3599, introduced on Feb. 8 by U.S. Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and eight original cosponsors, including U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).

“The IRS demonstrated a clear desire to collect the biometric information of Americans when they were in the final stages of implementing their facial recognition requirement,” said Rep. Huizenga. “The Ban IRS Biometrics Act is a common sense approach to strengthen privacy protections for Americans while stopping blatant and invasive overreach by the federal government.”

Specifically, the bill would define ‘biometric information’ as that regarding any measurable physical characteristic or personal behavioral trait used to recognize the identity, or verify the claimed identity or location, of an individual, including facial images, fingerprints, and iris scans, according to the text of the bill.

Additionally, the proposed bill would require the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to develop a plan within 180 days of the bill’s enactment “for the safe and secure destruction and disposal of any biometric information collected or used by the IRS or any third-party vendor on behalf of the IRS” prior to the date the bill becomes law, the bill says.

H.R. 6733 has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee while S. 3599 is under review by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.