In brief
According to a new court filing, the IRS mistakenly shared taxpayer data of thousands with the Department of Homeland Security as part of a controversial data-sharing agreement aimed at identifying undocumented immigrants. While the IRS only managed to verify about 47,000 out of 1.28 million names requested for cross-verification, it potentially breached privacy regulations by sharing additional address information for less than 5% of those individuals. Advocacy groups have filed lawsuits against the federal government over this data breach, highlighting the risks involved in the misuse of taxpayer information.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS has inadvertently shared taxpayer information of thousands with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under a controversial data-sharing agreement. A recent court filing revealed that the agency provided sensitive data aimed at identifying and deporting individuals living illegally in the U.S.
The data-sharing agreement, signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, allowed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to cross-check names and addresses of undocumented immigrants against IRS tax records. However, the IRS was only able to verify approximately 47,000 of the 1.28 million names requested.
Less than 5% of these individuals received additional address information from the IRS, which activists argue violates privacy regulations designed to protect taxpayer data. IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo confirmed that the Treasury Department alerted DHS in January of the error and requested the disposal of any incorrectly shared data.
The IRS-DHS agreement has already sparked litigation from advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, which filed a lawsuit shortly after the deal was finalized, concerned that the privacy of immigrants could be jeopardized. Recent court rulings have ordered the IRS to cease sharing residential addresses with ICE and have restricted any further data transfers to DHS.
Lisa Gilbert, Public Citizen co-president, emphasized that the breach exemplifies why the lawsuit was initiated in the first place, stating, “This breach of confidential information creates chaos, and if federal agents use this private information to track down individuals, it can endanger lives.”
Advocacy groups are expressing fears that the unlawful disclosure of taxpayer records may lead to the malicious targeting of individuals, violating their privacy and increasing the risk of adverse ramifications. As Tom Bowman from the Center for Democracy & Technology noted, the misuse of taxpayer data can have serious consequences for innocent people.
This incident underscores the critical need for stringent safeguards regarding sensitive data, as the repercussions of sharing even a small portion of confidential records can carry profound implications for individuals' lives.
