One of the things people likely look forward to the least each year is filing taxes. A new report might make that annual task even more daunting for American residents.
What Happened: Since the evolution of the internet, information like addresses, social security numbers and financial information have been targeted by hackers to steal identities. This could make people hesitant to file their taxes online.
A new report might make people even more uneasy as several of the largest tax preparation companies sent financial information from customers to Facebook, a unit of Meta Platforms META.
TaxAct, TaxSlayer and H&R Block HRB were named in a report by The Markup as companies that sent the sensitive financial information to Facebook from customers who filed taxes online.
The financial information was sent through code called Meta Pixel, which includes names, email addresses, income, the refund amounts and college financial information.
Facebook can use this information for targeted advertising.
The Markup also found that TaxAct sent information including financial data, but not names to search engine giant Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL.
Intuit INTU, which owns TurboTax, uses the pixel but did not send information to Facebook, per the report. Intuit maintains that it “does not track, gather, or share information that users enter in TurboTax while filing their taxes.”
H&R Block and TaxAct responded to the report with comments.
“We take the privacy of our customers’ data very seriously. TaxAct, at all times, endeavors to comply with all IRS regulations,” TaxAct spokesperson Nicole Coburn said in an email.
An H&R Block spokesperson said the company “regularly evaluate our practices as part of our ongoing commitment to privacy, and will review the information.”
H&R Block has removed the pixel from its DIY online product to prevent any client tax information from being collected.
A spokesperson for TaxSlayer said the company removed the pixel after the report.
Meta responded to the report when asked for comment.
“Advertisers should not send sensitive information about people through our business tools. Doing so is against our policies and we educate advertisers on properly setting up business tools to prevent this from occurring. Our system is designed to filter out potentially sensitive data is able to detect,” Meta Platforms spokesperson Dale Hogan said.
Related Link: Meta Platforms Investors Run From Q3 Earnings: Revenue Beat, EPS Miss, Daily Users Up, Costs Set To Climb In 2023
Why It’s Important: Around 150 million people file their taxes with the Internal Revenue Service annually according to the report. TaxAct, TaxSlayer and H&R Block are among the largest online tax filing companies in the U.S.
The Markup previously found sensitive data sent to Facebook from sites including hospitals, crisis pregnancy websites and federal student aid websites.
Facebook has found itself in hot water before for its collection of data and targeted advertising.
The latest report won’t win over any positive sentiment for Facebook and could lead to greater scrutiny from members of Congress.
Read Next: Meta Sticks To 2020 US Election Playbook For Upcoming Midterms To Fight Misinformation
Editor's Note: The article was updated to reflect that H&R Block has removed pixels from its DIY online product to prevent any client tax information from being collected.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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