Wednesday, October 20, 2021 | 2 a.m
I read the October 13 article “Biden’s IRS Proposal Annoyed Banks and Their Customers” with mixed feelings.
As a consumer, I can appreciate the added hassle of sharing data with another agency (and the potential complications of double-checking tax data). However, this annoyance is an annual occurrence as every bank I have used sends me a lengthy “privacy notice” disclosure letter.
Banks vigorously defend their right to share my personal financial information with a long list of business partners, marketing partnerships, consumer credit agencies, and legal entities. It’s hard to imagine a reasonable bank privacy law that allows so much marketing and legal disclosures “for financial and marketing purposes” while excluding the IRS. I doubt the IRS poses any greater privacy risk than the unspecified “marketing partners” (whose endless credit card offers pose a serious risk of identity theft).
It seems hypocritical when banks suddenly object to the disclosure of financial data for the purpose of debt collection. Are you willing to stop giving this data to private billing agencies and marketing partners and block the IRS, or do you see one as a greater privacy risk than the other?
I don’t like sharing personal information, but why should the IRS be placed in the same category as groups that are already receiving my information “for collection purposes”? All measures for or against the disclosure of data should apply equally to all potential creditors and business partners in order to avoid prejudice against the state survey.
