IRS Exposing Social Security Numbers Online - Is it their fault ? (Yes/No).

Identity Finder uncovered an estimated 630,000 Social Security numbers exposed online in form 990 tax returns.

The most affected group were tax preparers--many of which used their personal SSN rather than their PTIN (preparer tax identification number). However, directors, trustees, employees, donors, and scholarship recipients were all impacted as well.

The sensitive data on the publicly available tax returns is not limited to Social Security numbers, either. Some of the tax returns analyzed by Identity Finder included scholarship recipient names, complete addresses, and detailed transaction information.

Here is the catch:
There is no requirement within a form 990 for a Social Security number to be provided in the first place, and the IRS document is clearly labelled "Open to Public Inspection" as a warning that the information will be available to the general public

The link below has more details:

http://www.cio.com/article/748760/IRS_Exposing_Social_Security_Numbers_Online