IRS Doesn’t Shred Documents

I usually write more about cyber security, but physical security has been in the new a bunch lately. Earlier this week a hard disk from the Clinton Administration walked out of the national archives. Now we find out that the contractors who carry away the trash from the IRS offices don’t bother to actually burn the sensitive tax return information or shred them. Anyone can fish this information out of the trash.

Brian Krebs has the story at the WaPo here:

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.

It also turns out that no one at the IRS knew who was actually in charge of the burn-bag operations nor did anyone at the IRS bother to do background checks on the contractors that drove off with the trash to make sure it was burned or shredded.

If you ever wonder how on earth the government ever manages to get things done properly, you can thank the Inspector’s General Offices at the agencies for keeping people in line with policies and regulations.