[LINK] Tax Office staff spying on clients

[Kim Holburn]

Tax office sacks 'spies'
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,20284498%5E15306%5E% 
5Enbv%5E,00.html

> A SECOND government agency has been forced to sack staff for spying  
> on client records, with the Australian Taxation Office taking  
> action against 27 workers for breaches of privacy.
>
> The tax office took action against 24 employees over inappropriate  
> access to taxpayer files last financial year, with another three  
> cases detected this year.
>
> ATO first assistant commissioner for people and place, Anne  
> Ellison, said 12 of the staff caught spying last year resigned on  
> the spot. Four were sacked, two were fined and six had their  
> salaries reduced or were demoted.
>
> Two were ultimately prosecuted for breaches of the Tax  
> Administration Act, with one sentenced to community service and the  
> other fined.
>
> The revelations come a week after multi-millionaire former actor  
> and producer John Cornell - who is facing allegations that he and  
> Paul Hogan held $40 million in Swiss-administered trusts and  
> offshore companies without declaring it to the ATO - accused the  
> tax office of a campaign of media leaks.
>
> 	
>
> The Australian revealed last week that Centrelink had detected 790  
> instances of inappropriate staff access to customer records since  
> 2004.
>
> As a result, 19 staff were sacked and 92 resigned when faced with  
> accusations of inappropriate breaches of privacy. More than 300  
> others faced salary deductions or fines, with another 46  
> reprimanded and the remainder demoted or warned.
>
> Federal government bodies including Medicare Australia and the  
> Child Support Agency are also reviewing the systems they use to  
> protect confidential information as part of a broadening crackdown  
> on privacy breaches.
>
> Ms Ellison said the tax office had put in place a "two-year rolling  
> fraud plan". The ATO uses computer systems to systematically  
> monitor access to the records of high-profile taxpayers, including  
> celebrities and sportspeople.
>
> It also conducts case-by-case investigations if it suspects the  
> privacy of any taxpayer has been breached.
>
> The systems Centrelink and the ATO use to track inappropriate  
> access are similar to those used to detect welfare fraud and tax  
> evasion.
>
> The CSA is considering introducing technology from Centrelink as it  
> moves to large-scale sweeps of staff access to private records  
> under a review and reform process launched earlier this year.
>
> It currently conducts proactive reviews of high-risk records, such  
> as those of celebrities, and reactive reviews of all other customer  
> information.
>
> "We are exploring extending our proactive checks of staff access  
> down the pathway of that pursued by Centrelink," CSA general  
> manager Matt Miller said.
>
> Mr Miller said that the CSA had conducted three audits since  
> November and had not detected any inappropriate access. However, he  
> said the agency would have to implement Centrelink-style systems to  
> be sure it had uncovered all breaches.
>
> Medicare Australia spokesman Peter Sexton said that agency had also  
> had talks with Centrelink as part of a review of its privacy systems.
>
> "We have engaged a consultant to review a number of our processes  
> including audit logging, access profiles and risk assessments," Dr  
> Sexton said. "There is swift disciplinary or legal action taken  
> whenever a case of fraud or unauthorised access is detected."


--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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