It’s a week before Tax Day. Do you know where your tax information is?

My return is done. My refund is pocketed. My debts are lower.

But my personal information — Social Security numbers for myself and my family, my income, my deductions, my charitable contributions — they’re all sitting in a computer somewhere in the databanks of the Internal Revenue Service.

And, says this story by the Associated Press:

Treasury watchdogs said Monday that poor controls over IRS computers could allow a disgruntled employee, agency contractor or outside hacker to steal taxpayers’ confidential information.

Indeed, a hacker might even “gain full control of the IRS network,” said a report Monday [.pdf file] from the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Really?

And what should the government be doing about that, kind TOTD folks? Do the recommendations in the report go far enough? Or do you really even worry about stuff like this?