General Motors and Google parent Alphabet are silently pushing the city of San Francisco to expand the number of beta-testing self-driving vehicles allowed on the road. In protest, hoards of city denizens have figured out a way to combat the multi-billion dollar companies’ high tech, AI-driven cars: the humble orange…
A Congressional investigation concluded that several tax prep providers shared sensitive filing data with Meta and Google. It follows a 2022 report from The Markup highlighting the practice in which TaxSlayer, H&R Block and TaxAct used Meta’s Pixel tracking tool to harvest info like filing status, approximate adjusted gross income, refund amount, names of dependents and which text-entry fields users clicked on. Meta is already facing a lawsuit connected with the initial reporting.
The panel sent the conclusions to the IRS, FTC, DOJ and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGA), urging the agencies to investigate and prosecute if applicable. “Big Tax Prep has recklessly shared tens of millions of taxpayers’ sensitive personal and financial data with Meta for years, without appropriately disclosing this data usage or protecting the data, and without appropriate taxpayer consent,” the report reads. “The findings of this report reveal a shocking breach of taxpayer privacy by tax prep companies and by Big Tech firms that appeared to violate taxpayers’ rights and may have violated taxpayer privacy law.”
The review found the Meta Pixel tracker also gathered data about “whether taxpayers had visited pages for many revealing tax situations, such as having dependents, certain types of income (such as rental income or capital gains), and certain tax credits or deductions.” In addition, it transmitted the full names, email, country, state, city, zip codes, phone numbers and gender as hashed values. The information was also collected from taxpayers using TaxAct’s Free File service — which is through a partnership with the IRS.
Congressional investigators listed in the report include Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA).
“The tax prep firms were shockingly careless with their treatment of taxpayer data,” the investigation concluded. “They indicated that they installed the Meta and Google tools on their websites without fully understanding the extent to which they would send taxpayer data to these tech firms, without consulting with independent compliance or privacy experts, and without full knowledge of Meta’s use of and disposition of the data.” The panel also chided Meta and Google for acting “with stunning disregard for taxpayer privacy.”
The report cites laws that say, “a tax return preparer may not disclose or use a taxpayer’s tax return information prior to obtaining a written consent from the taxpayer,” while mentioning that the tax prep companies failed to do that. Although tax-filing companies can legally hand data to “auxiliary service providers in connection with the preparation of a tax return,” the panel said Meta and Google don’t meet that definition since the tracking was used for advertising. Violations can lead to fines of up to $1,000 per instance (likely pocket change for these companies) and up to a year in prison.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/congressional-report-condemns-tax-prep-companies-for-sending-data-to-meta-google-200254131.html?src=rss
The Democratic senator said Americans need to “ring all the bells” over what’s happening in the country.
A man and his mouth got into a hairy situation, according to his doctors. The man developed a fuzzy and starkly green discoloration of his tongue. Thankfully, this condition is usually benign, and his tongue eventually returned to normal.
Google got smacked with a class-action lawsuit Tuesday accusing the search giant of “stealing everything ever shared on the internet,” including copyrighted works and millions of people’s personal data. The law firm behind the case, Clarkson, said the case comes after Google changed its AI privacy policy, an updated…
We all love movies, but let’s be honest: television is where most of the best storytelling is happening these days. And today, nominations for the 2023 Primetime Emmys were announced, showcasing what voters think are the best of the best. And those voters apparently love genre.
It’s been almost four years since Sony introduced a new model to its popular, affordable, A6000 series of APS-C digital cameras. While the new A6700 isn’t a huge step-up over 2019’s A6600, it arrives with more than enough new features and improvements for fans of the line to consider finally upgrading their gear.
You’ll want to act quickly if you’re shopping for a truly stand-out TV set. Samsung’s 2023 Frame TVs are on sale at Amazon for Prime Day, and the discounts are particularly steep for some models. The line now starts at $548 for the bedroom-friendly 32-inch model, but the sweetest deal is for the 55-inch model, which has dropped to a record low of $988 — 34 percent off. You won’t get an add-on bezel at those prices, but the savings are large enough that you might not mind.
The appeal of Frame TVs is as clear as ever: it’s a set that doubles as artwork when it’s not in use. Mount it on your wall (the kit is thankfully included) and it blends into the decor using either professional images or your own. You’ll usually have to subscribe to the Samsung Art Store or buy individual works if you want classics, but it could be worthwhile to have a Van Gogh or Vermeer in your living room. The 2023 models have a matte finish that cuts reflections and gives them a canvas-like appearance.
These aren’t Samsung’s highest-end TVs, so you won’t get the crispness of an 8K panel or the vivid contrast of OLED. They still offer an accurate 4K picture, however, and they’re full-featured sets with voice assistant control, a game mode and a wide range of apps. At these prices, they’re easy choices if you either want a wall-mounted TV or were otherwise resigned to buying an ordinary screen.
Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-frame-smart-tvs-drop-to-as-low-as-548-for-prime-day-2023-201921481.html?src=rss
The “It’s Only Sunny in Philadelphia” star said he will share more details in an episode of “The Always Sunny Podcast.”
In 1864, David Goodell revolutionized kitchen food prep with the invention of a hand-cranked device that could peel an apple in a matter of seconds. One hundred and fifty-nine years later, Chipotle is introducing the next innovation in automated fruit prep with Autocado: a robot that can halve, peel, and core a…
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