U.S. secretly tracks world’s money web
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 accessing a vast database of 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. “It is extremely valuable.”
A former senior Treasury official expressed concern that the SWIFT program allows access to vast quantities of sensitive data that could be abused without safeguards. The official, who said he did not have independent knowledge of the program, questioned what becomes of the data, some of it presumably on innocent banking customers.
“How do you separate the wheat from the chaff?” the former official said. “And what do you do with the chaff?”
This isn’t news at all. Anybody who has worked in or with the financial industry knows that all of our money is tracked…
The journalists who revealed this should be thrown in jail. This is likely more successful than the other programs revealed to date, and the reporters decided they would blow the operation.
Hell, I want to know where my money’s going, too! Maybe the government can help me work out a budget.
Truly, this is one area where we don’t have to be told there’s no expectation of privacy. It’s the other areas, such as personal communications, where we needed to be informed that we had no such expectation.
Any information used to promote inter-bank tranfers is not public information. As it is private the government really needs a judicial warrant to access it. If any of you really care to publish your own information for the government to see and use and lose as they see fit (or otherwise) that is up to you. The only financial information the government has any right to know about is what is required to be reported under tax laws.
There is no satisfaction in knowing the Treasury Department has taken “safeguards” to protect the information gathering. Any oversight is done by the very people doing the illegal activity.
#2, AB CD, the only people to be thrown in jail are the ones breaking the law. That would be those illegally intercepting telephone calls, emails, phone records, and bank transfers without color of law.
Swift is not a program, it’s a belgian corporation providing “secure” messaging for banks. Statement from themselves on current events:
http://www.swift.com/index.cfm?item_id=59897
the wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Worldwide_Interbank_Financial_Telecommunication