They May Be Impressed By Mobile Video, But People Are Still Cheap
When Independent Security Experts Patch Windows Faster Than Microsoft

H&R Block Mails Customers Their Own SSNs... On The Outside Of The Envelope

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the oops dept

Tue, Jan 3rd 2006 4:39pm — Mike Masnick
Tax prep firm H&R Block is apologizing today for sending out copies of their tax preparation software to customers, while using customers' social security numbers as part of the tracking numbers found on the package. The social security number was apparently mixed in as part of a 47-digit tracking number, leading H&R Block to claim that it would be virtually impossible for identity theft to result from this mishap, as it would be quite difficult to decipher which digits within the 47 digits were the SSN. It's not clear, however, from the story if it was the same set of digits in each tracking number. Still, it does raise serious questions about how the company is using supposedly private SSNs for other purposes.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

7 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Andrew Strasser, 3 Jan 2006 @ 5:54pm

    We're all stamped with numbers for a reason.

    Just one small instance of a company doing this sort of thing to keep better track between software programs by using the same number.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Jan 2006 @ 6:55pm

    does it even matter?

    Meanwhile millions of people are entering all their information in online job applications.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    jdragon, 3 Jan 2006 @ 8:27pm

    The outsourced this task

    It bet it was packed by an offshore outsourcing plant. Good job, hope you saved a lot of money!

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Bob, 4 Jan 2006 @ 12:08am

    Re: The outsourced this task

    Yes I read somewhere that most tax returns of this sort today are outsourced to India, those accountants are probably lucky to get a mere penny to do your return.

    They have no concept of Americans preoccupation with SSN privacy, so it was a non-issue for them, which is likely the reason it happened at all.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Ben McNelly, 4 Jan 2006 @ 6:52am

    preoccupation???

    preoccupation huh... Are you saying it's a bad thing to be concerned about ones SSN? Go ahead and post yours real quick, I can prety much tell you that after a couple days you will understand our preoccupation.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Jan 2006 @ 9:38am

    No Subject Given

    Companies often obscure sending a full SSN by using asteriks to cover all but the last few digits. Woudldn't knowing a few digits in the 47 digit mess give you exactly what you need?

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    anonymous, 5 Jan 2006 @ 1:58pm

    they're BLOCKheads!

    Letter is 'dated' December 22 but there is no 'postmark'. I got my (first class mail) January 4th. I have YET to see the (third class mail) package. Can't WAIT to see what the actual thing looks like. Anybody who's interested in grabbing SSN's probably already has enough knowlege about which numbers in the 47 are lickely to be the lucky ones and now knows what to look for. BTW the letter? Mostly an advertisement for H&R Block. Oh oh oh - and I distinctly remember telling them (when they were doing my taxes, that I DIDN't WANT marketing stuff. I've already asked them (via phone) for a rebate for the fees I paid them - and I'm backing it up with a certified letter cc's to my attorney general.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]


They May Be Impressed By Mobile Video, But People Are Still Cheap
When Independent Security Experts Patch Windows Faster Than Microsoft
Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

Friday

19:39 Important Announcement: Techdirt Is Migrating To A New Platform (0)
More arrow

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.