IRS, eBay, and consumer privacy
Posted by Jacque on May 11th, 2007
eWeek writer Lisa Vaas asks, Would you trust eBay to keep your name, address and taxpayer identification number safe?”
The IRS is attempting to track down millions in unreported small business income from auction sites such as eBay. The Treasury Department’s proposal estimates that it could raise $20 million in 2008, increasing steadily over the years to hit a cumulative $1.974 billion by 2017.
The Center for Democracy and Technology is raising a red flag over the prospect. While not defending the rights of tax scofflaws, privacy groups see a number of negatives that the legislation could bring about, ranging from potentially increasing loss or theft of personal data, to indulging the government in its quest to hold more sway over information collected easily online.
“The IRS proposal is disturbing on many levels—not least in that it calls for the collection, storage and transmission of large amounts of sensitive personal information at a time when Internet users are increasingly concerned about identity theft; and when public- and private-sector data breaches have become routine,” the CDT said in its posting, which went up earlier this month.
“It would also potentially burden many smaller businesses that lack the technology or security infrastructure to safely collect sensitive personal information.”
The IRS getting hold of this information is nothing out of the norm. But what about these online brokers whom the government would have collecting such sensitive personal information? ”The question is, Is the private sector supposed to get more of it, and at what risk?” asked CDT Deputy Director Ari Schwartz in an interview with eWeek.
See the article for complete details.
