Posted on 11/27/2022 4:55:15 AM PST by EBH
Several tax prep services have been found sending sensitive financial information to Meta, including people’s income, filing status, and even amounts won in college scholarships.
The information comes via an investigative report from The Markup, which claims that Meta Pixel implementation in tax filing services has led to unintended data collection on Meta's part.
Meta Pixel is a piece of Javascript code created by Meta that lets companies track user activity as a way to “measure the effectiveness of [ads and the design]” of their websites. As it turns out, way more information than user activity was being sent, and all without user consent. Names of filers, dependents, email addresses, and in some cases, phone numbers were among the leaked financial data. And it doesn't matter if those users didn’t have an account on any Meta-owned platform. Meta can still use this data to bolster its own advertising algorithm, according to the report.
Google was also implicated in the report, but that situation appears less dire. A Google spokesperson states the data collected is all jumbled and can’t be tied to a specific person.
According to Meta’s own help center page, the tech giant prohibits other companies from sending financial data; however, information on people’s income was still received. Tax filing services did give users the “option to decline to share tax information”, but that didn’t matter because, again, the data was still sent and received.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
“Gun” violence. Probably the most abused of all.
It allowed web pages to execute logical statements along with formatting text. Pretty soon the web expanded from a ‘safe sandbox’ to what we have today, where there are no secrets.
My ‘Tax Filing Software’ is an Excel spreadsheet, which does the calculations, and paper printouts of tax forms, which I then fill in.
Obviously the spreadsheet us meaningless to some other computer trying to understand it, so none of those clowns get my information.
The paper forms also mean that my Social Security Number is never entered on to anyone’s software program, but instead is hand-written by me, and only on the final form that I send in (in fact, I write-in the SSN only AFTER making my personal copies, since I have my SSN memorized).
I hated coding most of all in university.
I think one needs a certain type of brain.
I remember spending hours, and all that was wrong was a missing semicolon.
I almost snapped.
Privacy laws in the U.S. are weak compared with Europe.
The problem...from meta pov..is the system is not perfected,yet.
According to the nested Markup article this affects online filings through a website. I did not see them mention an issue for standalone installed products.
This should be an interesting class action lawsuit, as well as a prosecution for literally millions of counts of illegally releasing confidential information (though, of course, Garland is too busy raising parents upset with their kids’ school board and former Presidents to do anything about this. But lawyers seeking billions from FascistBook and Google…that’s going to happen.
Willful disclosure of FTI is a felony punishable be 5 years imprisonment and $5000 fine per occurrence.
Bet this mirroring script rides in on “social media login features”. These are the most dangerous tracking and data mining features out there. If you do not have “NoScript” to block them you are vulnerable. If they have social media log in incorporated don’t use the site of you don’t have a blocker that tells you they are blocked for sure.
Unintended my Aunt Fanny.
L
“Be nice if real a congress would pass a privacy act where no personal information could be used without the written consent of the individual not the individual requesting every damn company, organization etc not using it and then using it anyway.”
We had one... Then everyone here was absolutely glad to get rid of it. Net Neutrality...
If you are interested in crunching data, learn R. I need to re-learn it whenever I need it as I don’t use it much of late but it’s very powerful.
Python too.
I have Python 3.9 and a Coursera class online as well.
I don’t know anything about R. I will have to look.
The VBA is just specific for Excel and Project Management interaction.(not high level data analysis)
I’m an electrical distribution designer, not a PM.
Thank you for the info.
LOL! That’s happened to me, but I learned to laugh at myself.
It takes a creative, analytic, logical, and precise person to code.
And you do need a sense of humor, for those frustrating, wasted hours of life, dealing with vague compiler issues one creates.
I have those qualities, but I also have genetic Irish rage and stubbornness.
I’m far better with respect to designing electrical distribution systems than I am with coding.
Anytime I code, it feels like talking to an ex girlfriend...
And that’s why I have an excellent CPA that works my tax return every year. Simple straightforward 1040 every time, no itemization or the like, no worries. Spellcheck wanted to insert “woodworking” instead of “worries” so that’s the first laugh of the morning. But I love woodworking so?
“tax filing services has led to unintended data collection on Meta’s part.”
Unintended my a$$. These people actually think we are that stupid as to believe them.
I’m sure there is a clause in the agreement that you allow these companies to allow data sharing. Ignorance of contracts is no defense.
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