The tax man is watching you: HMRC snoops on public 14,000 times in a year
Nick Huber writes in the Independent:
Taxpayers’ personal data, including records of web sites they have visited and where their mobile phone calls are made, is being viewed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs on an increasingly frequent basis.
In 2011, HMRC was authorised to view 14,381 items of “communications data” on taxpayers while investigating tax evasion, compared with 11,513 items in 2010, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act and seen by The Independent.
Using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, HMRC can see web sites viewed by taxpayers; where a mobile phone call was made or received; and the date and time of emails, texts and phone calls. It is not clear how many times the surveillance has led to a successful prosecution for tax evasion – or whether those found to be innocent are told that they have been spied on. HMRC did not respond to requests for this information.
