[privacy] U.S. Government Mining Banking Data in Anti-Terror Effort

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

Via The Los Angeles Times.

[snip]

The U.S. government, without the knowledge of many banks and their
customers, has engaged for years in a secret effort to track terrorist
financing by reviewing confidential information on transfers of money
between banks worldwide.

The program, run by the Treasury Department, is considered a potent
weapon in the war on terrorism because of its ability to clandestinely
monitor financial transactions and map terrorist webs.

Current and former officials at multiple U.S. agencies acknowledged the
program's existence, but spoke on condition of anonymity, citing its
sensitive nature. "We're very, very protective of it," said a senior
U.S. official familiar with the program. "It is extremely valuable."

The program is part of an arsenal of aggressive measures the government
has adopted since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that yield new
intelligence, but also circumvent traditional safeguards against abuse
and raise concerns about intrusions on privacy.

[snip]

More here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-swift23jun23,0,6482687.story

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

_______________________________________________
privacy mailing list
privacy () whitestar linuxbox org
http://www.whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy