Has an apology even gotten you out of paying your taxes, or fines, to the Internal Revenue Service or the Comptroller of Maryland? It's thought-provoking, then, that Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman believes that an apology is sufficient to cover a shocking data breach by her agency. "On February 4th, The Office of the Comptroller identified a printing malfunction that led to a limited batch of roughly 6,000 1099-G forms going to incorrect addresses," the Office of the Comptroller posted on its website yesterday. "The printing error did not impact other tax forms produced by the agency. There was no external data breach; this was an internal issue. Individuals who mistakenly received another person’s information should destroy the document immediately."
In other words, personal identification data and financial information of "roughly 6000" Maryland taxpayers was exposed to identity theft by the Office of the Comptroller. What is going to happen in terms of accountability? "We sincerely apologize for not catching the error and for any distress this incident may cause the affected individuals," the statement concluded. "We will be altering our process in the future on printing jobs to ensure this type of incident does not ever happen again." That's it?
Has that kind of response ever worked for you with federal or state tax authorities? Of course not. Has the Maryland legislature taken steps to hold Lierman accountable for the data breach in the last 48 hours? Negative on that front, as well.
Who does "public servant" refer to? Do our elected officials serve the public? Or is it the other way around? The latter seems to be the case virtually 100% of the time. Government believes it is entitled to an ever-increasing amount of the income you generate through your own labor and enterprise. Government cannot be held accountable, but it will bankrupt you, and throw you in prison for the same behavior.
The fact is, the Comptroller's office owes all Maryland taxpayers whose data was exposed a check. A fine, with interest added for each day that passes since February 4, 2025. Not surprisingly, the local lapdog media, and the Comptroller's elected friends in Annapolis, are not calling for this.
6 comments:
Guess we have it pretty good if this is the worst thing Dyer can find to feign outrage over. Providing free credit monitoring to those affected was the correct and appropriate response.
Just wait until Musk and his dastardly "dodgers" (DOGErs) "inadvertently" (err ... intentionally) use/release the DOBs, SS numbers, tax and health information, addresses, etc., of Americans, all of whom are in the Treasury's classified and highly confidential database that they have illegally obtained.
For decades the IRS mailed out Form1040s to all taxpayers with their SSNs printed in the front page. Why the sudden uproar over spilled milk now?
That ended years maybe decades ago. Why the memory lapse?
And it appears you aren't aware of identity theft.
No memory lapse here. Identity theft has been enhanced be leapfrogging technology. Why the sudden rush to bolt the barn door after the horse has bolted?
Why that's an ingenious( I meant insidious) way for our government to
create virtual jobs in a stagnant economy.
Post a Comment