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Metro: Taxpayer files left in trash by the IRS
And I thought the Boston Globe using subscriber and credit card records as part of packing with their bulk newspapers was bad 3 years ago. Globe Gaffe Delivers Subscriber Credit Card Data What a screwup for the IRS. As if there wasn't enough things to be worried about. Shocking survey prompts fears of mass identity theft Sensitive documents about U.S. taxpayers were found in trash outside all Internal Revenue Service sites visited in a investigation, putting the people at risk of identity theft, an inspector's report says. The tax collection agency must bolster oversight of contractors who dispose of papers with personally identifiable information, the inspector general for tax administration at the U.S. Treasury said in the report released Thursday. "At every location we visited, we found documents containing PII (personally identifiable information) or other SBU (sensitive but unclassified) information in regular waste containers and/or dumpsters," it said. "If security policies are not adequately communicated and adhered to, sensitive taxpayer information and employee data are at an increased risk of disclosure or other improper usage." Americans have lost more than $45 billion to identify theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The IRS, in response to the report, said it recently put in standards to oversee waste contracts, including background checks for employees. It agreed to all of the recommendations the inspector requested to improve oversight. Investigators visited eight IRS offices in Arizona, Maryland, New York and Utah and interviewed managers across the country from September 2007 to May 2008. Posted by: Delphi 2009-05-22 |
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