A privacy breach at the IRS: Taxpayer data wrongly shared with DHS, court filing says

Associated Press (AP)EN 3 min read 100% complete by By FATIMA HUSSEINFebruary 12, 2026 at 01:53 AM

AI Summary

medium article 3 min

A recent court filing reveals that the IRS mistakenly shared taxpayer data of thousands of individuals with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This occurred under a data-sharing agreement signed in April between the Treasury and Homeland Security, intended to help ICE identify and deport undocumented immigrants by cross-referencing names and addresses against IRS tax records. The IRS provided additional address information for less than 5% of roughly 47,000 individuals verified out of 1.28 million names requested by ICE, potentially violating taxpayer privacy rules. The IRS notified DHS of the error in January and requested assistance in properly disposing of the data. This agreement has faced legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen and court orders blocking the IRS from sharing residential addresses and information with ICE and DHS. Advocates fear the data breach could lead to privacy violations and malicious targeting.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

The Washington Post 30% Washington, D.C. 40% Lisa Gilbert 40% Public Citizen ×260% Scott Bessent 60% Kristi Noem 60% Dottie Romo ×260% United States ×270% United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ×370% Department of Homeland Security ×580% Internal Revenue Service ×1090%

Keywords

irs 100% dhs 90% taxpayer data 90% privacy breach 90% data sharing agreement 80% ice 70% immigrants 70% privacy rules 60% deportation 60% federal court 50%