Accounting and Tax

What arrives

The WISP
FTC Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR Part 314, with IRS Publication 5708 as the template. Tax and accounting firms are financial institutions under the rule.
Source
Pub 4557
IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data. The IRS guide to the FTC Safeguards Rule and the security plan a tax practice keeps.
Source
The PTIN checkbox
Form W-12, line 11, Data Security Responsibilities. On PTIN application or renewal, a Yes or No on the written information security plan the law requires.
Source
Circular 230 §10.36
Treasury Circular 230, 31 CFR 10.36. Those with principal authority over a firm's tax practice take reasonable steps to keep adequate compliance procedures in effect.
Source
A wall of card-index drawers, each with a written label.

What the Institute has found here

The Vigil Library
Legal volumes upright on a shelf, their spines lettered.

Institute

The Safeguards Rule at Scale: FTC Enforcement Patterns and Agency Management System Risk in Independent Insurance Agencies

Policy · June 2026

Read it
A printed form covered in empty circles to be marked.

Institute

The Compliance Mirage: Why Regulatory Checkboxes Fail to Predict Breach Outcomes

Policy · June 2026

Read it
A container port at night from above, stacked containers under working lights.

Institute

The Vendor as the Vector: Third-Party Risk Management Across Veterinary and Insurance Networks

Field notes · June 2026

Read it

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