(Via at Alternet) The Seattle Times gives us this bundle of happy news:
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns. If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers, for the first time, will be able to sell information from individual returns ” or even entire returns ” to marketers and data brokers.
IRS officials portray the proposed changes as house-cleaning measures needed to update outmoded regulations that were adopted before the IRS began accepting returns electronically. The proposed rules, which would become effective 30 days after a final version is published, would require a tax preparer to obtain written consent before selling tax information.
Critics call the proposed changes a dangerous new breach in personal and financial privacy. They say the requirement for signed consent would prove meaningless for many taxpayers, especially those hurriedly reviewing stacks of documents before a filing deadline.
I really need to get a static page up regarding my concerns about privacy rights in this country. I keep pointing to stories like this one to make my regular rant about needing a Privacy Rights Amendment to the Constitution.