The IRS Decides Who To Audit By Data Mining Social Media (typepad.com)

In America the Internal Revenue Service used to pick who got audited based on math mistakes or discrepancies with W-2 forms -- but not any more. schwit1 shares an article from the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law describing their new technique: The IRS is now engaging in data mining of public and commercial data pools (including social media) and creating highly detailed profiles of taxpayers upon which to run data analytics. This article argues that current IRS practices, mostly unknown to the general public, are violating fair information practices. This lack of transparency and accountability not only violates federal law regarding the government's data collection activities and use of predictive algorithms, but may also result in discrimination. While the potential efficiencies that big data analytics provides may appear to be a panacea for the IRS's budget woes, unchecked these activities are a significant threat to privacy [PDF]. Other concerns regarding the IRS's entrance into big data are raised including the potential for political targeting, data breaches, and the misuse of such information.
While tax evasion cost the U.S.$3 trillion between 2000 and 2009, one of the report's authors argues that people should be aware âoethat what they say and do onlineâ could be used against them.

Comments

It makes sense.

[BitterOak]

After all, if you declare on your tax return that your annual income is $30,000 and your Facebook page is full of pictures of you taking vacations in Hawaii, Fiji, Bermuda, etc., as well as photos taken from your first class seat in the airplane, then they have good reason to audit you. As long as they're searching public information only (eg. your PUBLIC Facebook profile and Twitter account) and not using special government powers to look at private information which would not be viewable by the general public, then I don't see a problem with this. You have no expectation of privacy when you post your vacation pictures to your public Facebook profile.

Re:It makes sense.

[Applehu Akbar]

All internet conversations devolve to the point where and American will say "At least we're not as bad as North Korea

Did you consider that 99% of their problem is that America is occupying half THEIR country.

The US isn't occupying Korea; South Korea is. And it's not North Korea's country. Korea was one country from the beginning of time until the day after Hiroshima, when Stalin finally saw Japan as being vulnerable, declared war on it, and occupied half of Korea while everyone else was otherwise occupied.

North Korea has no reason to exist. At some point we, or a UN consortium, will invest the afternoon it will take to blow it out of existence and reunify the country. Betcha you miss East Germany too, don't you?

Re:Don't cheat and don't worry

[ShanghaiBill]

Being audited requires production of huge amounts of paperwork

If you get audited, the first thing you should do is hire the best tax attorney that you can afford. Once you have legal representation, the IRS is required to deal directly with your tax lawyer, and can not contact you directly. Your attorney can cut way down on excessive demands for paperwork and documentation, which are mostly just fishing expeditions to intimidate naive taxpayers into agreeing to a "settlement" just to get the harassment to stop.

Of course, if you are poor, and can't afford a tax attorney, then you are screwed.

Re:Works for me

[Anonymous Coward]

The next that'll happen is people who DON'T have social media will be targeted. Hell, it probably already happens but we don't know because those people can't post about it!

"Well, why don't you want to share every aspect of your life? You MUST have something to hide!" --Da Gubbamint

It's not private information

[chuckugly]

Looking at publicly available (and in most cases self published) information isn't a violation of privacy by any sane definition. It may legitimately constitute something we don't like and may want to proscribe our government from doing, but it's not a privacy issue. Words; they used to mean things.

Re:Works for me

[sheramil]

Do none of you consider slashdot to be social media?

Re: Don't cheat and don't worry

[sycodon]

If SocialMedia like '%conservative%'
        Audit;

Re:Works for me

[demonlapin]

You can probably use my account to figure out who I am, if you really want to. I'm pretty sure I've dropped enough biographical data over the years. But there's a difference between "I'm safe from the NSA/FBI/CIA when they're actively pursuing a high-level spy" and "I'm safe from the IRS when they're fishing for auditees".

It's OK......

[Tulsa_Time]

It was fine when all the IRS did wrong was screw conservative non-profits... no one got fired or punished.

Making the tax collector a political weapon was not a problem for Obama.

Why worry now ? Oh... you don't like it now that Trump is in.... I see.....