According to David Lazarus at the SF Chron, Intuit and H&R block placed web bugs in online tax forms this year — and that's a likely violation of California law. From an earlier SF Chron report:
"Both Intuit and Block, which offer electronic filing for free through the IRS' Free File program, use hidden Web bugs throughout the tax-preparation process to monitor taxpayers' online behavior."
Ouch. And from the current report:
"The law states that it's a misdemeanor for any company 'to disclose any information obtained in the business of preparing federal or state income tax returns or assisting taxpayers in preparing those returns, including any instance in which this information is obtained through an electronic medium.'"
Link (Thanks, Eli the Bearded!)
