New Budget Makes IRS Tracking Proposal History (hopefully)
In May, we wrote a widely circulated policy post highlighting the privacy issues involved in an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) proposal that would require “brokers” – including online auction sites like eBay – to collect the Social Security numbers of millions of users. The plan was part of the Bush budget proposal to Congress last year. Fortunately, Congress did not take it up last year, thanks in part to the leadership of retiring Rep. Tom Davis, (R-VA).
It seems that the Administration got the message and has not included the same proposal in this year’s budget. Since the Administration has been the main proponent of the proposal, it seems unlikely that it will pop up this year without that budget push. We can hope, this being the last budget of the Bush Administration, that this spells the death of this proposal, but we always have to be alert for zombies that rise from the dead, no?
