[HN Gopher] Tax preparers that shared private data with Meta, Go...
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       Tax preparers that shared private data with Meta, Google could be
       fined billions
        
       Author : mikece
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2023-07-12 21:07 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
        
       | throw9away6 wrote:
       | Nobody will go to jail. Fine will be way less than profits.
       | Everything will work out for them. Maybe some low level employees
       | will get fired.
        
         | ChatGTP wrote:
         | Billions is a joke when they're paid trillions.
         | 
         | These companies are out of control
        
         | cscurmudgeon wrote:
         | I mean the TikTok CEO under oath lied no US data is saved in
         | China, meanwhile
         | 
         | https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2023/06/21/tikt...
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | roadbuster wrote:
         | > Fine will be way less than profits
         | 
         | What profits were derived from the "sharing" of "millions of
         | taxpayers' data?"
         | 
         | I had to do a technical audit of this issue to find out if my
         | company had also been placed at risk. What happened is this:
         | 
         | 1. Facebook asks advertisers to place some javascript on their
         | website to help with general measurements (i.e.: whether
         | viewing an ad on a Facebook property ultimately led to a
         | purchase)
         | 
         | 2. This javascript may also gather user interactions on the
         | website so an advertiser can see what users engage with, what
         | might be relevant to ad performance measurement, etc
         | 
         | 3. These stupid tax prep companies placed the script on pages
         | where users might view, interact with, or submit very private
         | information
         | 
         | 4. When users clicked around, tracking data was sent to FB
         | 
         | 5. A security/privacy journalist spotted this and said,
         | "gotcha."
         | 
         | Ad Tech companies don't want your SSN, and they really don't
         | know to know if you purchased Plan B. But when tax prep sites
         | and online pharmacies place a tracking script on all their
         | webpages, everyone ends up with egg on their face.
         | 
         | There were no profits here. The journalist's privacy
         | investigation should be appreciated and celebrated, but
         | Elizabeth Warren is just raising a boogeyman so she can keep
         | sticking a knife into the hearts of these large, corporate
         | entities. Election season is coming up, after all.
        
       | solardev wrote:
       | Donate some money to some Congress member's reelection fund,
       | promise them a cushy job afterward, it all gets swept under the
       | rug. Bonus if the intelligence agencies can then double dip and
       | reuse that same data for national security. To protect the
       | children from terrorists, of course.
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-12 23:01 UTC)