Paresh David

OAKLAND (California) – 39 people were fired by a major contractor for U.S. identity verification technology over the last week, according to Reuters. The company said that the employees had been accused of inappropriate communication.

ID.me had to fire about half its fraud team, but claimed the firings weren’t related to the probe U.S lawmakers opened over last week “serious concern” regarding the technology, including facial recognition, efficacy and privacy.

A total of two dozen U.S. state and federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, (IRS) have signed up with ID.me. This allows them to capture scammers trying to siphon tax refunds and unemployment insurance using stolen or fake identities.

The wait times for processing were a significant challenge to the Tysons startup in Virginia during the coronavirus outbreak. U.S. legislators stated this month that delays have prevented access to vital government benefits and services.

ID.me stated that customer service staff had been fired for inappropriate communications that were disrespectful to colleagues. It also said it was adding training and procedures.

Five employees who were fired told Reuters they shared their frustrations with the fraud team via an internal chat group. They also sought out advice, laughed and exchanged jokes. Two workers shared a rat-emoji as a way to notify their colleagues when supervisors approached them about personal cellphone usage or security breaches, they said.

According to workers, about half the 70-member team responsible for reviewing users who have been locked out of their accounts due to fraud or another issue was cut. According to anonymous sources, their exit from ID.me meant that the remaining employees had significantly more caseloads, which would have a slow effect on their response time.

Reuters was told by ID.me that cuts wouldn’t have a significant impact on operations as it was shifting other workers to the fraud division, and that workload had declined after mid-April U.S. tax filing deadline.

Alphabet CapitalG, and other funds, valued the company which has approximately 1,400 workers at $1.5billion last year in a fundraising.

Although some of its clients are pleased with the work it does, ID.me’s use facial recognition software for identifying people has prompted a campaign by rights advocates to have ID.me shut down.

ID.me claims it has successfully stopped fraudulent activity in an unimaginable way.

The employees who were fired expressed concern that ID.me had not issued warnings before. According to a severance deal seen by Reuters, the firm offered fired workers a month’s pay and three years of healthcare if it agreed to not bring any legal action.

ID.me indicated that it was against disrespectful discussions, but did not comment on the package.