[IP] more on Secret U.S. Program Tracks Global Bank Transfers
Begin forwarded message:
From: Peter Wayner <pcw@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 23, 2006 1:48:23 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>, h_bray@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Secret U.S. Program Tracks Global Bank
Transfers
There's no secret intelligence program being exposed here for the
first time. Let's look at what the White House releases on its own
website:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/treasury.html
According to this budget for 2007, the administration:
* "is making efforts to improve the efficiency of its collection,
retrieval, and sharing of information collected under the Bank
Secrecy Act..."
* "requires financial institutions to report on financial
transactions such as suspicious activities that may be indicative of
financial crimes..."
* "gathers, analyzes, and produces financial intelligence about these
threats..."
Sounds like they're looking at transactions to me.
The real news in the story is in the details of the implementation
and the structure of the oversight. The judicial branch is out of the
loop, something that has deep constitutional implications given the
4th amendment. And the system is also being designed to suck in as
much data as possible, something that leads to dangerous
concentrations of data.
The real story is not about the secrecy, it's about the
implementation. Does it have adequate oversight? Can it defend
against spies like Aldrich Ames? Is it overly complex and thus overly
expensive?
-Peter
On Jun 23, 2006, at 1:18 PM, David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message:
From: h_bray@xxxxxxxxx
Date: June 23, 2006 11:33:37 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] Secret U.S. Program Tracks Global Bank Transfers
Once again, a secret intelligence program during wartime has been
exposed.
Do these guys actually want us to win?
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