User stratton on the Bogleheads forum posted this news report from an NBC TV station in Washington, DC:
Glitch Gives Woman Access To Others’ Turbo Tax Information
Apparently TurboTax Online had a security hole that allowed a user to pull up tax returns from other users with the same last name.
She was able to access tax returns for Turbo Tax customers she never met in different parts of the country. On her screen, she found everything needed for electronic filing from bank account to routing digits and Social Security numbers.
I knew this was coming when I wrote Tax Software: Online or Desktop? in January. Tax return data are someone’s most sensitive data. I will never give mine to a website. If they abolish all desktop software and only offer online tax software, I will revert back to pencil and paper.
