Italy reveals population's tax, salary details
Italy's tax department posted every Italian's declared earnings and tax contributions on a site that was quickly overwhelmed by onlookers.
There has been outrage in Italy after the outgoing government published every Italian's declared earnings and tax contributions on the internet.
The tax authority's website was inundated by people curious to know how much their neighbors, celebrities or sports stars were making.
The Italian treasury suspended the website after a formal complaint from the country's privacy watchdog.
The information was put on the site with no warning for nearly 24 hours.
The release of the information was one of the last acts of the outgoing centre-left government and has shocked many tax-shy Italians, says the BBC's Mark Duff in Milan.
But it was also hugely popular, and within hours the site was overwhelmed and impossible to access.
Can you imagine if the IRS did this?
According to the CIA Factbook, Italy has a population of about 58 million. Even if Italy's tax records only covered half the population that's a hefty number.