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Quicken client info leak?
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March 2, 2000: 6:15 a.m. ET
Income data collected on users of online finance tools, report says
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Intuit Inc.'s (INTU: Research, Estimates) Quicken Web site was leaking information to advertisers but the maker of personal finance software has moved quickly to address the problem, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The newspaper said that a quirk in the design of the mortgage-calculator and credit-assessment features on Quicken's Web site collected customer data on income, assets and debt and then sent it to DoubleClick Inc. (DCLK: Research, Estimates), a leading Internet advertising company that has been under fire from federal regulators and some state officials regarding its use of information gathered about consumers who shop online.
DoubleClick said it doesn't keep any of the data it receives, the newspaper said, adding the data spillage problem was discovered by Internet-security consultant Richard Smith. It appeared to be widespread and not limited to personal finance sites, the newspaper said.
For example, Buy.com appears to be sending DoubleClick the titles of videos its customers are searching for on the site, the Journal said.
The Journal said Intuit wasn't aware of the problem when initially contacted Wednesday, but took quick action to address it. The company pulled the DoubleClick ad from its Quicken loans site, where the company said the problem was isolated, according to the report. DoubleClick Chief Executive Kevin O'Connor said his company also is looking into the problem, it added.
Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm said last month that Internet companies such as DoubleClick use Web technology to "rob people of their privacy." DoubleClick denies any wrongdoing, and its executives say any problems related to Internet commerce and personal privacy are industrywide, and not specific to Doubleclick.
Intuit provides content to CNNfn.com. 
-- Reuters contributed to this report
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