IRS can now hide records about its own insider threat investigations

The US Treasury Department just exempted a new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) record system from parts of the Privacy Act. This means the IRS can keep secret the records it collects on its own employees as part of its insider threat program.

The IRS now has a dedicated system to track potential internal threats, and it can keep those records private. This makes it harder for the public or employees to challenge how the IRS manages its own internal security. It also means the IRS can conduct investigations into its own staff without the usual transparency requirements that apply to other government records.