Are TurboTax and H&R Block Sharing Your Personal Info?

With tax season now finally behind us, one big concern is out of the way. But another one may loom for millions of filers.

The Washington Post reports that those who use TurboTax or H&R Block software to file their return and agree to privacy prompts might find they have triggered unexpected and disconcerting consequences.

The Post reports that H&R Block asks users for the right to access their data “to optimize your H&R Block experience.”

Meanwhile, Intuit’s TurboTax makes a similar request, asking to access your data to “enrich your financial profile, communicate with you about Intuit’s services, and provide insights to you and others.”

The Post says agreeing to these terms means you likely will get marketing from the companies that is “eerily specific to your financial situation.” The news site says:

“This might come in the form of offers for financial products when you’re done with your taxes, ads on sites that belong to sister companies (like Intuit’s Mint or Credit Karma), or ads that come from these companies via email.”

If that sounds disturbing, know that there is a way to undo the decision to opt in to these services, whether you intentionally made that decision or did so unwittingly. But the Post says you are going to have to “jump through some hoops” to get your privacy back.

TurboTax users should email [email protected] and say they want to revoke their “consent for use of tax return information.”

H&R Block told the Post customers must contact the company, but H&R Block didn’t specify how.

At Money Talks News, we want to make sure we always respect your privacy preferences. For more, check out “Submit a Privacy Request.”