Inland Revenue to take measures against tax record snooping

NEWS The Inland Revenue is to introduce tough disciplinary penalties for computer misuse, after it was discovered that staff have been browsing through taxpayers' records, and may have breached data protection laws by disclosing tax information to outside agencies or even selling it to the press, according to media reports. The issue emerged in an internal newsletter sent to Inland Revenue employees by the department's Human Resources Conduct and Discipline Section, obtained by Computer Weekly magazine. In the newsletter, which warns employees not to access personal tax records without legitimate reasons, it is revealed that the Revenue's Board has become aware of incidents of unauthorised browsing of taxpayers' records. In most cases, the newsletter said, such activities involved celebrity browsing or looking up the details of family or friends "out of idle curiosity". However, according to the department, there is also evidence that certain employees have used the information maliciously, for example finding out ex-spouses' income and then disclosing the details to the Child Support Agency, or selling personal tax records' information to outside agencies. This, the Revenue said, is clearly a breach of confidentiality and the Data Protection Act. Although it cannot presently confirm specific incidents, the Revenue also believes that some celebrities' information may have been offered to the press. In 2001, the Inland Revenue took disciplinary action against employees in 226 cases of computer misuse. The department holds the tax records of more than 60 million people and approximately 60,000 employees have access to this information. According to the privacy statement posted on its Web site, the Revenue can only disclose taxpayers' information to third parties for the purposes of checking data accuracy, preventing or detecting crime or protecting public funds.

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