Feds Target H&R Block In RICO Smack Down Over Taxpayer Data

Kansas City's most beloved legacy company now endures scrutiny from the feds in a tech case alleging data sharing and violations of consumer privacy. 

From our vantage, here's what's more important . . .

NOTICE KANSAS CITY MSM SILENCE ON H&R BLOCK TROUBLES!!!

The news broke yesterday but KC Biz Journal didn't put in on blast until Friday afternoon and then behind a paywall.

Here's a description of the allegations and more info . . .

"The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California this week, stems from a bombshell Congressional report released earlier this year detailing the way multiple tax preparation firms, including H&R Block, “recklessly” shared the sensitive tax data of tens of millions of Americans without proper safeguards. 

"At issue are the tax preparation firms’ use of tracking “pixels” placed on their websites. These trackers, which the lawsuit refers to as “spy cams” would allegedly scan tax documents and reveal a variety of personal tax information, including a filer’s name, filing status, federal taxes owed, address, and number of dependents. That data was then anonymized and used for targeted advertising and to train Meta’s AI algorithms, the congressional report notes. 

"The IRS places strong privacy protections over tax data and has rules prohibiting tax preparation firms from using that information for any reason other than assisting in tax returns."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

H&R Block, Meta, and Google Slapped With RICO Suit, Allegedly Schemed to Scrape Taxpayer Data

"H&R Block, Google, and Meta ignored data privacy laws, and passed information about people's financial lives around like candy," one attorney said.