Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

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rjbraun
Posts: 2271
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:22 pm

Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

Post by rjbraun »

Long story short . . . we were planning to hire a tax preparer, but it didn't work out. The preparer was never retained. We never hired them, and they never began any work. While we agreed on an introductory meeting and were prepared to pay for the consultation, once the preparer declined the work they said they would not charge for the meeting. Given we got no service or advice, this also made sense to us and that was that.

My concern is that in advance of the consultation, we uploaded our prior year tax return on the Verifyle account the preparer created for us. We would like to remove the file, but after following the Verifyle instructions we haven't been able to. Verifyle instructions say that you first need to "archive the workspace", after which you can delete it. But I don't see "delete" as an option on the "gear wheel" after I've archived the workspace.

Assuming that I am correct that there's no way for us to delete our file, I feel like we have two options now. Just leave things as is and hope for the best, or contact the preparer to ask them to remove the file (or set our account to allow us to delete the workspace, assuming my assessment is correct). Frankly, we were a bit uncomfortable after meeting the preparer and don't know whether even mere suggestion of the request itself may be problematic.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what we should do? For what it's worth, the preparer is an Enrolled Agent, so I guess there should be some degree of comfort there. Apart from that, we found them via an online search, not as a referral from a trustworthy contact.
tibbitts
Posts: 23728
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:50 pm

Re: Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

Post by tibbitts »

It's hard to judge without having been there to see the interaction between you and the preparer and why it made you uncomfortable. Did th return have a bunch of complete account numbers besides your SSNs, and is that the main concern, or is something else concerning?
seawolf21
Posts: 1590
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:33 am

Re: Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

Post by seawolf21 »

rjbraun wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:54 pm Long story short . . . we were planning to hire a tax preparer, but it didn't work out. The preparer was never retained. We never hired them, and they never began any work. While we agreed on an introductory meeting and were prepared to pay for the consultation, once the preparer declined the work they said they would not charge for the meeting. Given we got no service or advice, this also made sense to us and that was that.

My concern is that in advance of the consultation, we uploaded our prior year tax return on the Verifyle account the preparer created for us. We would like to remove the file, but after following the Verifyle instructions we haven't been able to. Verifyle instructions say that you first need to "archive the workspace", after which you can delete it. But I don't see "delete" as an option on the "gear wheel" after I've archived the workspace.

Assuming that I am correct that there's no way for us to delete our file, I feel like we have two options now. Just leave things as is and hope for the best, or contact the preparer to ask them to remove the file (or set our account to allow us to delete the workspace, assuming my assessment is correct). Frankly, we were a bit uncomfortable after meeting the preparer and don't know whether even mere suggestion of the request itself may be problematic.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what we should do? For what it's worth, the preparer is an Enrolled Agent, so I guess there should be some degree of comfort there. Apart from that, we found them via an online search, not as a referral from a trustworthy contact.
You may want to just move on and monitor your credit report and IRS account and consider this as a learning experience as you are worrying about a situation you have zero control over as the worrying ain’t going to change a thing.

Your primary concern is preparer is unethical and if your hunch is correct, you being able to delete it yourself is closing the barn door after the horse has already bolted. This “unethical” preparer would have been using/copying your info already.

If preparer is ethical then they wouldn’t do anything with it.

If you are concern about Verifyle being hacked, there is no guarantee they don’t have backups even if they or provider allow you to “delete” it.

Thus worrying is not going to accomplish anything. Only thing you can do treat this as a data breach and monitor credit report and IRS account.
Topic Author
rjbraun
Posts: 2271
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:22 pm

Re: Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

Post by rjbraun »

tibbitts wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:08 pm It's hard to judge without having been there to see the interaction between you and the preparer and why it made you uncomfortable. Did th return have a bunch of complete account numbers besides your SSNs, and is that the main concern, or is something else concerning?
Apart from SSNs and financial details one wouldn't want shared indiscriminately and unnecessarily, fortunately there were no account numbers or similar on the returns (federal and state).

Basically, the meeting was kind of odd. In addition to being an Enrolled Agent ("EA"), the person indicated that they were a Certified Financial Planner. Maybe they were, but we kind of differed on at least one topic that I would have thought was straightforward enough. I don't think I pushed my point, as I was prepared to defer to them (for the sake of the discussion, at that point). Anyway, the person got less engaged as the meeting went on, and after we covered the various topics I had planned beforehand (given we were intending to pay for the consultation) they said they were not interested to work with us. For what it's worth I did confirm the person's EA status, so at least that's in order.
Topic Author
rjbraun
Posts: 2271
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:22 pm

Re: Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

Post by rjbraun »

seawolf21 wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:43 am You may want to just move on and monitor your credit report and IRS account and consider this as a learning experience as you are worrying about a situation you have zero control over as the worrying ain’t going to change a thing.

Your primary concern is preparer is unethical and if your hunch is correct, you being able to delete it yourself is closing the barn door after the horse has already bolted. This “unethical” preparer would have been using/copying your info already.

If preparer is ethical then they wouldn’t do anything with it.

If you are concern about Verifyle being hacked, there is no guarantee they don’t have backups even if they or provider allow you to “delete” it.

Thus worrying is not going to accomplish anything. Only thing you can do treat this as a data breach and monitor credit report and IRS account.
Thanks. You're right. Appreciate you taking the time to post your analysis.
tibbitts
Posts: 23728
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:50 pm

Re: Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

Post by tibbitts »

rjbraun wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 4:51 pm
tibbitts wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:08 pm It's hard to judge without having been there to see the interaction between you and the preparer and why it made you uncomfortable. Did th return have a bunch of complete account numbers besides your SSNs, and is that the main concern, or is something else concerning?
Apart from SSNs and financial details one wouldn't want shared indiscriminately and unnecessarily, fortunately there were no account numbers or similar on the returns (federal and state).

Basically, the meeting was kind of odd. In addition to being an Enrolled Agent ("EA"), the person indicated that they were a Certified Financial Planner. Maybe they were, but we kind of differed on at least one topic that I would have thought was straightforward enough. I don't think I pushed my point, as I was prepared to defer to them (for the sake of the discussion, at that point). Anyway, the person got less engaged as the meeting went on, and after we covered the various topics I had planned beforehand (given we were intending to pay for the consultation) they said they were not interested to work with us. For what it's worth I did confirm the person's EA status, so at least that's in order.
It sounds like this person lost interest when he got the impression you wouldn't need sufficiently profitable services from him. That might be a good sign. Probably the data is relatively safe, but I don't think there'd be much risk asking them to delete it. I'd be somewhat more concerned if both the SSN and account numbers had been involved.
Topic Author
rjbraun
Posts: 2271
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:22 pm

Re: Verifyle - deleting a file // getting back sensitive information

Post by rjbraun »

tibbitts wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:17 pm It sounds like this person lost interest when he got the impression you wouldn't need sufficiently profitable services from him. That might be a good sign. Probably the data is relatively safe, but I don't think there'd be much risk asking them to delete it. I'd be somewhat more concerned if both the SSN and account numbers had been involved.
Thank you. A couple of months have already passed now. While I would like to have the information deleted, part of me says to just leave well enough alone now. Fortunately, I haven't noticed any odd stuff going on with our accounts, etc.

I suppose I was so taken aback when the EA basically declined to take our business to have been rendered (almost) speechless. If this ever happens again (or as a heads-up to fellow Bogleheads), I suppose maybe I would have asked them then-and-there to please delete our information. But I didn't think of it. Besides, I thought I could have done it on my own but that was not the case (I tried that day). And I suppose I was reminded of the situation more recently with tax filing due in less than a month now.

Anyway, live and learn, I suppose. Thanks again for your input. :happy
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