> Easy solution though, I simply won't tell my electric company what my income is. Surely the government won't hand over this info, right? Right? I don't know

> Easy solution though, I simply won't tell my electric company what my income is. Surely the government won't hand over this info, right? Right? I don't know about PG&E specifically, but Equifax et al. have subsidiaries like The Work Number to get your income from employers and share it with whoever asks. The government isn't handing over anything-- even they go through Equifax when verifying income for food stamp eligibility. The threat is real.