Three of the biggest accounting and tax preparation firms in the country are being charged with illegally disclosing to Google and Meta private financial data regarding tens of millions of taxpayers.
Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, has been leading a seven-month congressional investigation. This involves claims that H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer shared information using visitor monitoring software built into their websites.
The inquiry discovered the holding firm of Facebook, Meta, occasionally used information improperly for individualized marketing, potentially in contravention of federal law.
Companies reportedly provided information regarding taxpayers’ filing status, earnings, expected reimbursement amount, and names of children, in addition to information like addresses and contact information.
They reportedly even exchanged information regarding the text boxes and buttons that clients selected while completing tax forms. This might expose the tax advantages that customers may have obtained or whether they are participating in any government initiatives.
According to David Vladeck, a former consumer protection chief at the Federal Trade Commission, the purported breach of information is a 15 on a rating system of 1 to 10.
“If everything we have discovered about this currently is accurate, then this amounts to a five-alarm fire,” remarked Vladeck, who has since become a Georgetown University law professor.
Using their web pages, tax preparation firms assist taxpayers in electronically filing their federal and state taxes.
The shocking study, which was published on July 11, claimed that webpage names in online tax software were reportedly being collected and distributed using a tracking pixel.
According to a Senator Warren aide who spoke with CNN, this data can show which forms taxpayers viewed.
Over the course of the investigation, Meta admitted to using taxpayer data to develop its artificial intelligence algorithms and provide tailored third-party advertisements.
Without the taxpayer’s express written consent, dissemination of their tax return data is prohibited by federal law.