-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,49615,00.html
}}}>Begin
RS' Case of the Missing Laptops
By Declan McCullagh
2:00 a.m. Jan. 10, 2002 PST
WASHINGTON -- Losing your laptop may be a major headache for most
people, but for America's tax collectors it happens all the time.
The IRS has lost or misplaced 2,332 laptop computers, desktop
computers and servers over three years, according to a recent report
by Treasury Department auditors. They concluded it's a persistent
problem: The IRS has "reported a material weakness in inventory
controls" every year since 1983.
See also:
The Spy Who Lost Me
IRS: Protector of the People?
Linking Records Raises Risks
Everybody's got issues in Politics
This week, Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance
committee, concluded that America's most-hated federal agency needs an audit of its
own. In a letter to the Bush administration, Grassley calle
d the shoddy record-keeping "shocking" and threatened to slap limits on the agency's
budget.
"The IRS wouldn't accept from a taxpayer the non-answer it has given regarding the
missing 2,300 computers," Grassley said. "Just as a taxpayer would be held accountable
for missing receipts, so must the IRS be held accou
ntable for missing 2,300 computers."
Grassley said that until the mystery PCs were unearthed, Congress could no longer take
the IRS seriously when it asked for billions of dollars to spend on its highly touted
modernization project.
The report from the Treasury Department's Inspector General, dated Nov. 29, 2001, said
that the IRS was "unable to easily provide information concerning the number of lost
or stolen computers during the course of this rev
iew. Though total counts were eventually provided, no detailed numbers of lost,
stolen, or damaged items of inventory could be provided. This was due, in part, to the
manner in which missing items are recorded on the inve
ntory records."
Also unclear is what confidential taxpayer information might be stored on the missing
computers.
Bruce Friedland, an IRS spokesman, said "the missing computers haven't compromised
taxpayer information." When asked whether confidential tax returns and audit records
might be stored on the computers' hard drives, Friedl
and replied: "I believe the answer to that is 'Yes.' But I believe the software
applications are not easily available for anyone to use."
Friedland also said that 1,597 of the misplaced or stolen PCs have been found since
last November. "I don't have where they were located nor where they are located.
They're not all in one place," he said.
In addition to mishandling some of its 163,000 computers -- that number includes the
missing and found machines -- the IRS seems to have a problem keeping track of its
firearms, badges and radios.
The Inspector General concluded that 502 "investigative items" were lost or stolen,
including 40 badges for IRS agents, 50 radios and "15 electronic surveillance devices
that could compromise the public's safety or ongoin
g investigations." (No further details were given, except for a brief note saying:
"Information determined to be restricted from public release has been redacted from
this document.")
Reported incidents include an IRS agent losing his firearm after his unlocked car was
robbed, and another agent dropping a gun into the ocean during a boating accident.
Related Wired Links:
How to Hate the Taliban.gov
Nov. 10, 2001
The Wrong Way to Do Dirty Tricks
June 16, 2001
IRS: Protector of the People?
April 24, 2001
Linking Records Raises Risks
April 20, 2001
The Spy Who Lost Me
April 17, 2001
New Economy: Lose Money, Pay Tax
April 6, 2001
Free Speech, or Cop Harassment?
April 5, 2001
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