@TurboTax_Susan
I believe my original post may have been misunderstood. My concern is not about transferring a license to another party. I fully understand that the license is limited and allows only a certain number of installations.
My concern is specifically about the current activation design, which requires both a license key and an Intuit account to activate the desktop software.
The license key already enforces the permitted number of activations by contacting the activation server. That mechanism has worked for many years and already provides the necessary control over installations.
Requiring the same Intuit account login on every installation introduces a practical and security problem. In households where the license legitimately allows multiple installations, users are effectively forced to share the account credentials in order to activate the software on different machines.
For example, if a family member installs the software on their computer while travelling or living elsewhere temporarily, the license holder must provide their account username and password and potentially coordinate two-factor authentication as well. This is not a license transfer; it is simply a permitted installation under the license terms.
Encouraging customers to share account credentials runs contrary to widely accepted security guidance, which discourages password sharing and promotes individual accountability for account access.
A more secure design would be either:
- Activation using the license key alone (as was previously the case), or
- Allowing separate Intuit accounts to activate under the same license key while tracking those activations under the primary license holder.
I would also note that the current activation design appears inconsistent with common privacy principles that encourage collecting only the personal information necessary to provide a service. Because the license key already enforces activation limits, requiring an account login for each installation does not appear technically necessary.
Another point worth noting is that the identity associated with the Intuit account is not related to the taxpayers whose returns are being prepared. One copy of TurboTax can legally prepare and file multiple returns for different individuals, which demonstrates that the software does not require knowledge of the user’s identity to perform its core function.
I am not asking for additional installations beyond what the license allows. I am simply asking that the activation system not require account credential sharing in order to use the installations already permitted by the license.
I would appreciate if this concern could be reviewed by the appropriate product, privacy, or security team.
