Musk’s DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data, raising alarm at IRS
Under pressure from the White House, the #IRS is considering a memorandum of understanding that would give officials from #DOGE
broad access to tax-agency systems, property and datasets.
Among them is the Integrated Data Retrieval System, or #IDRS,
which enables tax agency employees to access IRS accounts
— including personal identification numbers
— and bank information.
It also lets them enter and adjust transaction data and automatically generate notices,
collection documents and other records.
According to a draft of the memorandum obtained by The Washington Post, DOGE software engineer #Gavin #Kliger is set to work at the IRS for 120 days,
though the tax agency and the White House can renew his deployment for the same duration.
His primary goal at the IRS is to provide "engineering assistance" and "IT modernization consulting".
It's highly dangerous to grant political appointees access to personal taxpayer data,
or even programs adjacent to that data, experts say.
IRS commissioners traditionally do not have IDRS access.
The same goes for the national taxpayer advocate, the agency’s internal consumer watchdog, according to Nina Olson, who served in the role from 2001 to 2019.
“The information that the IRS has is incredibly personal.
Someone with access to it could use it and make it public in a way,
or do something with it, or share it with someone else who shares it with someone else,
and your rights get violated,” Olson said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/16/doge-irs-access-taxpayer-data/
