In an effort to prevent fraudulent claims which have plagued the online unemployment system, Pennsylvania has hired ID.me, a McLean, Virginia-based company, to authenticate users.

Since 2020, some 27 states have hired ID.me for unemployment verification, including Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

"We are also now under contract with an additional two states. ID.me Spokesman Nicholas Michael told The Epoch Times.

"Our federal partners include the Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration."

Unemployment applicants in these states must submit to a new, more invasive level of vetting to receive payments.

ID.me's online authentication process begins with a request for permission to use details from the user's credit profile and other public sources. Soon after that, the system requires users to consent to ID.me collecting their Social Security number and biometric data. The user cannot continue the process or receive unemployment without consenting.

The fine print explains ID.me may collect facial biometrics and voiceprints.

Users upload an image of a driver's license or passport, and a current "selfie" image taken with their smartphone. In some cases, a video selfie is used.

"We use these images to create a facial geometry or faceprint which we use for purposes of identity verification and to prevent the fraudulent creation of multiple accounts in a fraudulent manner," the agreement explains.

Users may also be required to call ID.me and leave a voice recording that is used to create a voiceprint. "We use this voiceprint for identity verification and to prevent the creation of multiple ID.me accounts in a fraudulent manner," the agreement explains.