XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11, misc.taxes   
   From: mariasophia@comprehension.com   
      
   AJL wrote:   
   > On 1/28/26 10:39 AM, Maria Sophia wrote:   
   >   
   >>Intuit isn't part of the government so they do not already have your   
   >>private personal financial data unless you choose to give it to them.   
   >   
   > They do. When I sign into my online TurboTax account this year all my   
   >  personal details (from my past tax forms) will be already be filled in.   
   >  Love it, saves time...   
      
   Hi AJL,   
      
   We're different when it comes to our knowledge & perspective on privacy.   
   You know me well enough to know I'm not naive about online privacy.   
      
   I didn't even have an Intuit online account until they forced everyone   
   into creating one a couple of years ago. And even now, when I sign into   
   that account, none of my prior tax data magically appears.   
      
   So if your account pre-populates everything, that simply means YOU   
   voluntarily uploaded your past returns to Intuit's servers at some point.   
      
   I didn't. I won't. And I'm not about to start giving them my personal   
   financial history just because they'd prefer it that way.   
      
   > Same risk as Uncle Sam. Or your doctor's office. Everything's online   
   > these days...   
      
   That's not really equivalent.   
      
   My doctor and the IRS *must* have certain information because they're the   
   entities that actually use it. Intuit is a private, profit-driven company   
   whose entire business model depends on collecting, storing, and monetizing   
   user data.   
      
   Pretending those risks are identical doesn't make them identical.   
      
   > I suspect the TurboTax online version uses the same servers   
   > and has the same security as the store-bought version.   
      
   That statement seems to indicate you don't understand   
    a. Intuit has "online" tax calculations, versus   
    b. Intuit has software you download online (and use locally)   
      
   They're not the same thing.   
      
   Intuit doesn't publish meaningful details about how the online version is   
   secured, how long data is retained, who has access, or what third-party   
   services are involved.   
      
   With the desktop version, at least the data stays on *my* machine unless I   
   explicitly choose otherwise.   
      
   > My GUESS is that the biggest security risk is at the user end such   
   > as using a discontinued OS.   
      
   Sure, user-side security matters. But that doesn't magically make cloud   
   storage safe. A Chromebook reaching AUE is one thing; handing a decade of   
   tax returns to a corporation whose incentives don't align with mine is   
   another.   
      
   When my Windows 10 machine ages out, it doesn't suddenly start uploading   
   my financial life to a server farm. The online TurboTax version does that   
   by design.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)