The IRS is allowing taxpayers to opt out of facial recognition to verify accounts

The Internal Revenue Service says it's giving taxpayers with individual accounts a new option to verify their identity: a live virtual interview with tax agents.

This comes after the IRS backed away from a planned program to require account holders to verify their ID by submitting a selfie to a private company, a proposal that drew criticism from both parties in Congress and from privacy advocates.

The agency says account holders can still choose the selfie option, administered by ID.Me. But if they'd rather not, the agency says taxpayers will have the option of verifying their identity "during a live, virtual interview with agents; no biometric data – including facial recognition – will be required if taxpayers choose to authenticate their identity through a virtual interview."