Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee said they were “taken aback” to find out the Internal Revenue Service has recently signed a $7.25 million contract with Equifax for verifying taxpayer identities after the company admitted to a massive data breach exposing the personal information of approximately half of all Americans.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter Wednesday to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen asking about why the agency would award a contract to Equifax after the company exposed the private information of more than 145 million Americans. The senators are investigating the impact of the data breach on Americans and federal agencies, and they asked Koskinen to explain the IRS’s rationale.
“We were taken aback when it came to our attention that last week the IRS awarded Equifax a sole source contract worth over seven million dollars for ‘verify[ing] taxpayer identity and … assist[ing] in ongoing identity verification and validations needs of the Service,’” they wrote.
They asked Koskinen to help them better understand the IRS’s new and existing contracts with Equifax, and requested information including a copy of the contract and details on the services Equifax will perform. They also wondered, “Why was this awarded as a sole source contract especially in light of the recent breach?” and asked what steps the IRS is taking to ensure that Equifax is protecting taxpayer information. They also asked for a copy of every active contract between the IRS and Equifax, and they want the information no later than Oct. 11, 2017.
Equifax’s former CEO, Richard Smith, who resigned last week amid the outcry over the data breach, testified before Congress Tuesday and blamed an employee for making the error. He repeatedly apologized, however, saying, “As CEO, I was ultimately responsible for what happened on my watch. Equifax was entrusted with Americans’ private data and we let them down.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, at a Senate hearing
White Paper
Crush the five barriers to growth
Partner Insights
Sponsor Content From: