‘SHOCKING BREACH’

Millions of Taxpayers’ Sensitive Data Handed Over to Google and Meta, Lawmakers Say

TaxAct, H&R Block and TaxSlayer “recklessly” shared info including names, addresses, and incomes, a report alleges.

A bombshell report released by seven Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday claims that three tax preparation firms “recklessly shared tens of millions of taxpayers’ sensitive personal and financial data” with Meta, Google, and other big tech companies. The seven-month congressional inquiry found TaxAct, H&R Block, and TaxSlayer allegedly used Meta Pixel and Google Analytics tools to hand over information including filing status, gross income, names, and federal tax owed, among other data. Meta Pixel also collected full names, emails, addresses, and phone numbers, according to the report, which Meta confirmed it used to target ads to taxpayers. The lawmakers said the firms hardly understood the tools they were using and installed them on their websites “without fully understanding the extent to which they would send taxpayer data to these tech firms.” The report accuses Meta and Google of a “shocking breach” of taxpayer privacy and violations of the law, encouraging the IRS, DOJ and others to “fully investigate.”