The chumminess between FinCEN and the intelligence community raises serious questions about the privacy and security of the financial records of citizens John and Jane Doe, considering the intelligence community’s historic penchant for illegal spying on non-criminals. Given the vast reach and ease with which the government can now tap into an individual’s or business’s financial records on a whim, these questions have received far too little scrutiny.
Predictor: Kimery, Anthony L.
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for Wired magazine, Anthony Kimery, an editor at American Banker Newsletters, outlines the U.S. government’s efforts to keep a handle on private financial transactions. Kimery writes: ”Launched with a low-key champagne reception at the Treasury Department in April 1990, FinCEN [Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] is the U.S. government’s (perhaps the world’s) most effective financial crime investigation unit … This state-of-the-art computer-snooping agency is quietly tucked away under the auspices of the Treasury Department. Its mission is to map the digital trails of dirty money, be it the laundered profits from drug sales, stolen S&L loot, hidden political slush funds, or the financing conduits of terrorists. It’s the only federal unit devoted solely to the systematic collation and cross-analysis of law enforcement, intelligence, and public databases … the talents of the IRS, FBI, DEA, Secret Service, and other traditional federal cops such as customs agents and postal inspectors are pooled. According to senior intelligence officers, these investigative units can access the resources of the CIA, the National Security Agency (which intercepts data on electronic currency movements into and out of the United States, some of which make their way into FinCEN’s analyses), and the Defense Intelligence Agency … Because these activities cross into the world of cloaks and daggers, some watchdogs are concerned that such endeavors will encroach on privacy and civil rights. When you look at the power of FinCEN and its proposed offspring, their fears seem justified … The chumminess between FinCEN and the intelligence community raises serious questions about the privacy and security of the financial records of citizens John and Jane Doe, considering the intelligence community’s historic penchant for illegal spying on non-criminals. Given the vast reach and ease with which the government can now tap into an individual’s or business’s financial records on a whim, these questions have received far too little scrutiny.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Privacy/Surveillance
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Big Brother Wants to Look in Your Bank Account: The U.S. Government is Constructing a System to Track All Financial Transactions in Real-Time – Ostensibly to Catch Criminals. Does That Leave You With the Warm Fuzzies – or Scare You Out of Your Wits?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.06/big.brother_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney