# TurboTax SelfEmployed means giving TurboTax use of your data



## CaptainToo (Dec 5, 2017)

In another thread https://uberpeople.net/threads/swit...business-to-lyfts-free-tt-selfemployed.371131 I discussed switching from the TurboTax Home&Business (a downloaded software product that runs only on your PC) to the TurboTax SelfEmployed option free through Lyft.

As I started to sign up for the free TurboTax SelfEmployed I recognized it is offered only as an online service, ie not available as a software product you download and run on your PC. To use this service, you need to provide all your personal and tax data to TurboTax, and accept how TurboTax chooses to use that information for purposes other than completing your tax return. If you click into their privacy statement page

https://www.intuit.com/privacy/protect-your-privacy/you see a comforting statement about you having choices on their use of your data as follows:
*"Being transparent*
_When you use our services, we give you choices on how and when we share your data and how we use it to keep in touch with you._* "*

But if you continue to their actual privacy policy page you will see that the options you have to actually limit TurboTax's use of your data is limited to sharing your data with third parties _for marketing purposes_, compared the the many purposes and instances which they give you no control over. I've included a section of the statement below highlighting those exceptions in red text. In my opinion, TurboTax is trusting that most users will never read the policy detail, but just click thru and trust the Fortune 500 company to do the right thing. Justr like FaceBook and Google, TurboTax has has plans for your information.

For $64 I am going to stick with my PC download of TT Home&Business for 2020.

https://www.intuit.com/privacy/statement/

*"Important Information: Please read this carefully as we have made updates to our Privacy Statement. This Privacy Statement goes into effect January 1, 2020.*
*Intuit Privacy Statement*
*Last Updated: January 1, 2020
Previous Statement: https://security.intuit.com/index.php/privacy

....*

*Information we collect*
*Information you give us
...
Information we get when you use the products and services.*
*...*
*Biometric Information*
*...*
*Information provided by others*
*...*
*Other information sources*
*........*

*"How we share your information*
From time to time, we may need to share your information in the following circumstances:

*With your consent.* We share your information with third-parties when you have requested us to do so.

*For research.* With appropriate controls, we may share information with third-parties for research purposes or to publish academic or policy-related materials. We only share information in a way that would not allow any individual to be identified.

*For joint sales, promotions and events.* We may share your information with third-parties who are jointly providing sales initiatives, promotions or events with us.

*With financial services providers.* We may share personal Information with collection agencies, credit bureaus and loan service providers, financial product underwriters and payment card association members. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report and consumer report. We may also share your personal information with other companies, lawyers, credit bureaus, agents, government agencies, and card associations in connection with issues related to fraud, credit, or debt collection.

*With service providers.* We share personal information with our service providers who provide services on our behalf for the purposes described in this Statement. Service providers are required to implement reasonable privacy and information protection controls to maintain the privacy and security of information provided to them consistent with the privacy practices outlined in this Statement.

*For mergers and acquisitions.* If we are involved with a merger, asset sale, financing, liquidation, bankruptcy, or the acquisition of all or part of our business to another company (collectively, a "Transaction"), we may share your information with that company and its advisors before and after the Transaction date.

*Sales of personal information to third parties.* We do not and will not sell personal information to third parties. We do share personal information with third-parties for the business purposes described in this Statement.

*With our affiliates and subsidiaries.* We may share your information with and among our affiliates and subsidiaries for everyday business purposes (as described in this Statement) as well as for marketing purposes.

Your Right to Limit information Sharing: certain laws, including Federal Law for our US customers, provides our customers with the right to limit our information sharing activities in certain circumstances. For example, you may have the right to limit our sharing of information about your creditworthiness with our affiliates for everyday business purposes or to limit sharing of your information to both affiliates and third-parties for marketing purposes. You can limit information sharing for our TurboTax, Turbo and Mint offerings through our Gramm-Leach Bliley Act notice, found here.
*Non-Intuit Services, links and integrations*
Other companies' products, services and applications may use or integrate with our Intuit Platform, or otherwise be offered through our Intuit Platform or Apps.com ("Non-Intuit Services"). If you choose to link, sync or otherwise use any of these Non-Intuit Services you consent and direct Intuit to share your information, including personal information, to the company providing the Non-Intuit Services. Non-Intuit Services are subject to the applicable terms and privacy statement of the company providing the service.

Some of our features enable you to connect to a social media account or share information on social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter. Any information you choose to share on social media may potentially be visible to a global audience and will be subject to the social media provider's privacy policies (not this Statement). You should take care only to share information on social media that you are comfortable sharing.
*Advertising and analytics*
Intuit may use advertising networks and other providers to display advertising on our Intuit Platform or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our advertising partners may place cookies on unaffiliated websites in order to serve advertisements that may be relevant to you based on your browsing activities and interests and determine the effectiveness of such advertisements. You may be able to opt-out of such interest-based advertising by visiting Digital Advertising Alliance's Network Advertising Initiative's, or Your Online Choices.
*For legal reasons*
We may share your information with third-parties for legal reasons, including:

When we reasonably believe disclosure is required in order to comply with a subpoena, court order, or other applicable law, regulation or legal process
To protect the rights, property, or safety of Intuit, TurboTax, the Intuit Platform, our customers or others
To protect or defend against attacks
To enforce, remedy, or apply our Terms of Service or other agreements
To prevent fraud, cybersecurity attacks or illegal activity
For debt collection
With regulatory agencies, including government tax agencies,as necessary to help detect and combat fraud and/or protect our customers, users and/or the Intuit Platform"
*....*


----------



## DMV2101 (Nov 23, 2018)

I think it's cute that people are still worried about their information being stolen/collected/distributed in this day and age.

Newsflash: Your information was already stolen, if not by this, by something else.


----------

