[privacy] IRS Found Lax in Protecting Taxpayer Data

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

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Via The Washington Post.

[snip]

Thousands of taxpayers could be at risk of identity theft or other
financial fraud because the Internal Revenue Service has failed to
adequately protect information on its 52,000 laptop computers and other
storage systems, a new government report concludes.

The IRS did not begin to adequately correct the security problems until the
second half of 2006, despite being warned about them in 2003 and again in
February 2006, according to a report by the inspector general of the IRS,
J. Russell George.

"If taxpayers don't feel their personal information is protected, that
could make them less likely to voluntarily file their taxes," said
assistant inspector general Margaret E. Begg, whose auditing office studied
IRS security policies and practices in place from January 2003 through
mid-June 2006.

Nearly 500 IRS laptops were lost or stolen during that 3 1/2 -year period,
many from the homes or cars of IRS workers but a significant number -- 111
- -- from IRS offices, the report found. The IRS says one laptop typically
contains information on 10 to 25 tax cases.

[snip]

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR200704040
2603.html

- - ferg

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--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg(at)netzero.net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

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