dumpster diving at IRS

[Henry Brown <hbrown () knology net>]

From the Washington Post: http://tinyurl.com/ran2wq
...
The Internal Revenue Service has long advised consumers to shred old tax 
returns and other documents that contain sensitive data, as a way to 
thwart identity thieves who sometimes root through trash bins in search 
of identity information. But it seems the IRS doesn't take its own 
advice: a recent investigation of more than a dozen IRS document 
disposal facilities found that -- at each location -- old taxpayer 
records were being tossed out in regular waste containers and dumpsters.

The audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration also 
found that IRS officials failed to consistently verify whether contract 
employees who have access to taxpayer documents had passed background 
checks.

In addition, investigators also had trouble finding anyone responsible 
for overseeing most of the facilities that the IRS contracted with to 
burn or shred sensitive taxpayer documents.

"We found evidence of only 2 instances where IRS personnel conducted 
visitations to shred/burn facilities in the past 2 fiscal years," the 
report notes. "Not all Territory Managers were even able to identify the 
contractor who provided their shred/burn services or where they were 
located. None of the four contractor sites we visited had ever received 
a request from the IRS to inspect their facility or onsite records."

In a written response to the report, the IRS said it had improved 
oversight of the document disposal contractors, and increased the level 
of verification to ensure contractors have passed background checks.

A copy of the inspector general's report, including the IRS's official 
response, is available here (PDF). 
http://www.treas.gov/tigta/auditreports/2009reports/200930059fr.pdf
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