March 24, 2006
FOUR FOR FRIDAY - THE PRIVACY EDITION
PLEASE NOTE: I apologize ahead of time if anyone encounters a problem while attempting to leave a comment for today's Four For Friday. It seems that my server is being overwhelmed by blog spam, and until we get the problem fixed, the comment portion of this entry may malfunction. --Mikal
Q1 - Lost Data: Do you think that a company--regardless of its size or scope--should be fined or penalized for losing its employees' or customers' financial data?
Q2 - Searching For Data: Do you think search engines like Ask's, Google's, and Yahoo's be required to give the U.S. Department of Justice data on users' searches?
Q3 - Shredding Data: Do you use a shredder either at home or work?
Q4 - Sharing Your Data: When you turn to a professional tax preparer to complete your state or federal income tax filings, you trust that person or the company they work for with your most guarded and personal financial information. But what if the tax preparer or the company they work for was allowed to sell your information to data miners and telemarketers, as well as to sister firms associated with the tax preparation company. It could happen if a new IRS proposal is approved. According to an IRS statement, the heart of the proposed regulation focuses on "...the right of taxpayers to control their own tax return information." In other words, in order for a tax preparer to sell your information, you would first have to give your consent. The IRS says that's a good thing because it empowers taxpayers, while critics like the ACLU fear that unscrupulous preparers could dupe some of us. How do you feel about this? Should tax preparers be allowed to sell our personal information, and/or should the IRS even make this an option in the first place?
Posted by Mikal at March 24, 2006 7:25 AM
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Q1: Lost Data - I think it all depends on the situation. If a company clearly ignores commonly accepted practices where securing their customers' data is concerned, then yes, I do feel they should be fined for losing customers' data. But if hackers develop a new way of securing the data, and that new way was previously unknown to the company (or to anyone else on Earth), then no, I don't feel they should be fined.
Q2: Searching for Data: No way. I do not like the idea of search engines being required to comply with government requests for users' searches. Similarly, I'm not in favor of the Google's of the world selling our search data to advertisers or anyone else.
Q3: Shredding Data: Yes, I have a shredder at home, and I've used them pretty regularly in the offices where I've worked. You can never be too careful with your data, and while a shredder doesn't guarantee anything, it does provide excellent peace of mind. Next up for me is going to be one of those crosscutting shredders.
Q4: Sharing My Data: I am not in favor of the IRS' proposal. In my opinion, it shouldn't even be an option!
1. Yes. I'm putting my trust in that company to safeguard that data and if they cannot, there should be enforced penalties. At the very least, they should be forced to reimburse the expenses of anyone who's data has been lost/stolen as well as issue statements to Credit reporting agencies explaining that any fraudulent activites as a result of data theft is due to their action and not the individual who was affected. I also expect the company to attempt to hack their own security to identify possible holes.
2. Definitely not. It's simply a way for law enforcement officials to go trolling for information that MAY be useful. Besides that, I don't trust that the information would not be stockpiled by various agencies and used for personal or political gain.
3. Yes, I use a cross-cut shredder at home on anything that contains my personal data.
4. I don't think that they should be allowed to sell the information, but if a customer specifically given the preparer permission to sell the information, it's their business. My concern is that the permission statement would be buried among the boilerplate legalese that the customer never reads, yet always answers "yes" to. If this is the case, many people will unwittingly give their permission. Ideally, the customer would have to sign a seperate form and the preparer would be legally obligated to explain to the customer that it their taxes will prepared as usual and without additional charges whether or not consent is given to to sell their information.
1. It depends on how the data was lost--although I should point out that regardless of the "how", the customers should still be reimbursed somehow.
2. No.
3. I have a shredder, but I haven't used it yet.
4. No, tax preparers should not sell any information. The whole things sounds a bit sordid to me.
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