The daily business briefing: July 12, 2023

Tax-prep sites shared customer data with Facebook, Hollywood scrambles to avert an actors strike, and more

SAG-AFTRA poised to strike
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1. Congress: Tax-prep giants shared private taxpayer data with Facebook, Google

Some of the biggest tax-prep companies shared sensitive customer data with Meta's Facebook and Google without consent or appropriate disclosures, according to new congressional report. The seven-month investigation by a group of lawmakers found that TaxSlayer, H&R Block, TaxAct, and other firms sent customer data including names, phone numbers, email addresses, filing status, income, refunds, and tax breaks to Facebook, which acknowledged it used that information to target ads to those customers, and Google. "On a scale from one to 10, this is a 15," Georgetown University law professor David Vladeck told CNN. "This is as great as any privacy breach that I've seen other than exploiting kids. This is a five-alarm fire, if what we know about this so far is true." The lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said the companies violated the law and should face steep fines and other sanctions.

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