temojen's Journal: Income tax preparer's privacy statement

I went to get my taxes done at a franchise of a big financial services chain. They asked me to sign their privacy policy. When I started to read it the rep said I just had to sign it. I said I was going to read it before signing. She interrupted me several times as I was reading (two pages of small type), saying that I had to sign it before they could do my takes. Meanwhile, she was already entering my information.

I finished reading and said "please stop entering immediately". It seems burried down at the end of the document were two shocking disclosures...

They share all your personal and financial information with other financial services companies for purposes such as ... marketing and debt collection.

To make matters more interesting they send all of your personal and financial information to a foreign country where it may be accessed by any government agency allowed to under the laws of that country..... Under the laws of that country, government agencies may access all information on non-citizens without either a warrant or probable cause. Also, that country has a long documented history of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

READ and understand the privacy policy before you hand over your tax return slips