April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Italy's regulator for privacy issues blocked the country's Finance Ministry from continuing to publish online statements of official incomes for all citizens who paid taxes in 2005.

A ministry Web site which displayed the data earlier today was bombarded by Italians curious to see what their neighbors, favorite actors or soccer heroes had declared as income. By 5 p.m. local time the tax and income data was no longer available on the site.

The country's regulator for privacy issues, in a meeting today, requested that the ministry shut down the display of the tax and income information. ``This type of diffusion of information is in conflict with privacy laws,'' the regulator said on its Web site.

``This is a matter of transparency, of democracy,'' said outgoing Deputy Finance Minister Vincenzo Visco. ``I don't see any problem. The whole world does this. Just watch any American TV show and you'll see.''

Visco led outgoing Prime Minister Romano Prodi's crackdown on tax evasion, yielding 9.3 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in extra revenue last year. Premier-elect Silvio Berlusconi has vowed to continue the fight against evaders, while at the same time saying repeatedly during his election campaign that Italians had the right to not pay because they're overtaxed.

`Pure Folly'

The release of the data led to a flurry of reactions, mostly negative, from consumer groups, politicians and other commentators. Beppe Grillo, a comedian and political activist, was alarmed.

``This is pure folly,'' Grillo said, according to Ansa news agency. ``They're supplying criminals with our income information and telling them where we live. It's too dangerous to pay taxes. It's better to be convicted of tax evasion than to be stabbed in a heist.''

Guido Crosetto, a lawmaker close to Berlusconi, said that making income information available to everyone amounted to ``gossip,'' not policy.

``This won't help the country or taxpayers,'' Crosetto said, according to Ansa. ``It'll allow one to see what a co- worker or a neighbor makes, and just add to the problems the country is already facing.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Scherer in Rome at scherer@bloomberg.net; Giovanni Salzano in Rome at gsalzano@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 30, 2008 13:22 EDT