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The IRS held a public hearing today on proposed regs that will require taxpayers to specifically consent to the sale of their data as supplied to tax preparers. Proposed Regulation Proposed Consent and Warning Requirements Current Regulation Consumer Groups to Testify before the IRS on Plan to Weaken Taxpayer Privacy Rules Citing concerns about privacy …
Paid Tax Return Preparers: In a Limited Study, Chain Preparers Made Serious Errors, Full-text GAO-06-563T, April 4, 2006. Highlights. “In GAO visits to commercial preparers, paid preparers often prepared returns that were incorrect, with tax consequences that were sometimes significant.”
Personal Information: Agencies and Resellers Vary in Providing Privacy Protections, Full-text GAO-06-609T, April 4, 2006. Highlights. “In fiscal year 2005, the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State and the Social Security Administration reported that they used personal information obtained from resellers for a variety of purposes, including performing criminal investigations, locating witnesses and fugitives, …
UK: Terrorism Act 2006 (47 pages, PDF): “An Act to make provision for and about offences relating to conduct carried out, or capable of being carried out, for purposes connected with terrorism; to amend enactments relating to terrorism; to amend the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and for …
FTC press release: “Federal regulators [March 31, 2006] released “Evolution of a Prototype Financial Privacy Notice,” a report by Kleimann Communication Group summarizing consumer research commissioned by the regulators as part of their ongoing efforts to develop improved financial privacy notices…The report concludes that consumers need a context for understanding information in financial privacy notices. …
New York Times interview with DHS Director Michael Chertoff,by Deborah Solomon, April 2, 2006: Chertoff states, “I don’t use e-mail. One reason is when you write an e-mail, you have to be mindful of the fact that nothing ever disappears. It can be deleted, but it is still in the system somewhere…They can get me. …
A series of recent articles name the high ranking government officials who are now the focus of the Plame CIA leak investigation: Libby lawyers finger top State Dept. leaders for CIA leak Fitzgerald Knew Identity of Leaker From Start Related postings on Plame CIA leak AP: Libby Says Prosecutor Trying to Keep Post
Press release, March 30, 2006: “The Department of Justice announced today the release of its newest resource for technology and information sharing: Sharing Justice Information: A Capability Assessment Toolkit. The Capability Assessment Toolkit consists of detailed standards and guidelines, which provide law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners a step-by-step process to assess their respective agencies …
An Examination of the Call to Censure the President, Senate Judiciary Committee, Full Committee, March 31, 2006 Sen. Feingold’s Resolution to Censure the President Testimony: Bruce Fein, Partner, Fein & Fein Lee Casey, Partner, Baker & Hostetler Sen. Patrick Leahy Sen. Russ Feingold Related articles and postings: John Dean Blasts Warrantless Eavesdropping An Update on …
Press release: “Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras today issued the agency’s 2006 Annual Report at the American Bar Associations Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting in Washington, DC. The report, entitled “The FTC in 2006: Committed to Consumers and Competition,” (62 pages, PDF) is available now on the Commission’s Web site and includes …
Iraq Index: Tracking Variables of Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq, Brookings Institution, March 30, 2006 (52 pages, PDF) See also Brookings Iraq Index Archives: “…a statistical compilation of economic, public opinion, and security data. This resource will provide updated information on various criteria, including crime, telephone and water service, troop fatalities, unemployment, Iraqi security …
Press release, MArch 30, 2006: “Transparency in federal courtrooms today scored a victory when legislation introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, to allow federal trial and appellate judges to permit cameras in the courtroom passed the Senate Judiciary Committee…The bipartisan “Sunshine in the Courtroom” bill would allow …
