Twisted Titan
1st May 2013, 10:41 AM
The IRS is Spying on You
You hear it all the time. “Be careful what you put on Facebook, you never know who might be watching.”
The warning usually implies potential or current employers eyeing your moves. Of course, most people don't think much of this, or else they don't post anything that would get them fired. Simple as that.
But it's possible something that won't give an employer pause could instead tip off the IRS. This tax season, it's time to keep an extra-special eye on your social media profile.
Recent reports have suggested the IRS might be going after people's Twitter and Facebook accounts to collect personal information they can't get elsewhere.
Kristen Mathews, an attorney, talked to MyFox DC (http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/21905788/irs-collecting-tax-payer-information-from-facebook-and-twitter#axzz2PtzSr0cM) about these claims:
“There are laws that regulate the government's ability to get a hold of things like credit card transaction history. But those laws have become more permissive in the last several years, particularly after 9-11, and so some might say those laws are no longer in line with the average expectation of privacy.”
And there are virtually no laws protecting your social media privacy. Sure, you can set your account to only be visible by friends or certain people, but many people don't do that. And once you put something online, it belongs to the world. And besides, the IRS probably has a way of getting around those “privacy protections.”
But exactly what could be the implications of this? What is the IRS really going to do with some pictures of you at the beach and your high score on Words with Friends?
The title of a recent Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2013/04/08/bragging-about-winning-your-ncaa-pool-on-facebook-may-cost-you-come-tax-time/) article might have the answer. On Monday, Forbes contributor Tony Nitti posted an article entitled “Bragging About Winning Your NCAA Pool on Facebook May Cost You Come Tax Time.”
That could be enough to cause you to think twice. How many things have you posted on social media sites that you never imagined could get you in trouble? How many innocent, everyday activities might send the IRS a red flag should they go through your Facebook feed?
And it might not just be social media. You should probably check everything you do on the Internet. CNet (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57578839-38/irs-claims-it-can-read-your-e-mail-without-a-warrant/) reports new circulating documents are revealing that the IRS may even be able to obtain access to your email or Facebook messages, not just things you post publicly. And they can do all this wihtout a search warrant.
The IRS even states it pretty bluntly in the IRS 2009 Search Warrant Handbook. As CNet reports, the handbook states “emails and other transmissions generally lose their reasonable expectation of privacy and thus their Fourth Amendment protection once they have been sent from an individual's computer.”
How's that for your right to privacy? Next step: thought police.
Even more frightening, they weren't stopped by the courts. A federal appeals court ruled that the Fourth Amendment should apply to email in U.S. v. Warshak, a 2010 case. Still, the IRS stuck with it's own interpretation of the law.
It did slightly update the law in 2011. In the new update, the IRS is allowed to “obtain everything in an account except for unopened e-mail or voice mail stored with a provider for 180 days or less.”
Of course, what good does that really do us? They'll get it eventually.
Big Brother is watching.
You hear it all the time. “Be careful what you put on Facebook, you never know who might be watching.”
The warning usually implies potential or current employers eyeing your moves. Of course, most people don't think much of this, or else they don't post anything that would get them fired. Simple as that.
But it's possible something that won't give an employer pause could instead tip off the IRS. This tax season, it's time to keep an extra-special eye on your social media profile.
Recent reports have suggested the IRS might be going after people's Twitter and Facebook accounts to collect personal information they can't get elsewhere.
Kristen Mathews, an attorney, talked to MyFox DC (http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/21905788/irs-collecting-tax-payer-information-from-facebook-and-twitter#axzz2PtzSr0cM) about these claims:
“There are laws that regulate the government's ability to get a hold of things like credit card transaction history. But those laws have become more permissive in the last several years, particularly after 9-11, and so some might say those laws are no longer in line with the average expectation of privacy.”
And there are virtually no laws protecting your social media privacy. Sure, you can set your account to only be visible by friends or certain people, but many people don't do that. And once you put something online, it belongs to the world. And besides, the IRS probably has a way of getting around those “privacy protections.”
But exactly what could be the implications of this? What is the IRS really going to do with some pictures of you at the beach and your high score on Words with Friends?
The title of a recent Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2013/04/08/bragging-about-winning-your-ncaa-pool-on-facebook-may-cost-you-come-tax-time/) article might have the answer. On Monday, Forbes contributor Tony Nitti posted an article entitled “Bragging About Winning Your NCAA Pool on Facebook May Cost You Come Tax Time.”
That could be enough to cause you to think twice. How many things have you posted on social media sites that you never imagined could get you in trouble? How many innocent, everyday activities might send the IRS a red flag should they go through your Facebook feed?
And it might not just be social media. You should probably check everything you do on the Internet. CNet (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57578839-38/irs-claims-it-can-read-your-e-mail-without-a-warrant/) reports new circulating documents are revealing that the IRS may even be able to obtain access to your email or Facebook messages, not just things you post publicly. And they can do all this wihtout a search warrant.
The IRS even states it pretty bluntly in the IRS 2009 Search Warrant Handbook. As CNet reports, the handbook states “emails and other transmissions generally lose their reasonable expectation of privacy and thus their Fourth Amendment protection once they have been sent from an individual's computer.”
How's that for your right to privacy? Next step: thought police.
Even more frightening, they weren't stopped by the courts. A federal appeals court ruled that the Fourth Amendment should apply to email in U.S. v. Warshak, a 2010 case. Still, the IRS stuck with it's own interpretation of the law.
It did slightly update the law in 2011. In the new update, the IRS is allowed to “obtain everything in an account except for unopened e-mail or voice mail stored with a provider for 180 days or less.”
Of course, what good does that really do us? They'll get it eventually.
Big Brother is watching.