Tax Prep Sites Exposed Users' Data to Meta and Google

Tax preparation companies such as H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer may have violated privacy laws by sharing sensitive personal and financial data of millions of taxpayers with tech giants like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google, according to a Congressional report led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The report reveals that the companies used tracking codes, such as Meta Pixel, to share data including names, email addresses, income, filing status, refund amounts, and more. While the companies claim the data was anonymous, the report suggests it could easily be used to identify individuals for targeted advertising or other purposes. The lawmakers are calling for investigations and potential legal action, emphasizing the need for the IRS to develop its own secure online tax filing system to protect taxpayer privacy.