Two of the latest electronic inroads into the financial records of private citizens and businesses are “Operation Gateway,” a FinCEN initiative, and the proposed Deposit Tracking System, which other intelligence agencies would like to see established. Both are inherently prone to abuse and provide a disturbing indication of the direction in which the government is moving.
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: ”Two of the latest electronic inroads into the financial records of private citizens and businesses are ‘Operation Gateway,’ a FinCEN initiative, and the proposed Deposit Tracking System, which other intelligence agencies would like to see established. Both are inherently prone to abuse and provide a disturbing indication of the direction in which the government is moving. Gateway is a pilot program launched in Texas this July that gives state and local law enforcement officials direct access to the massive federal Financial Database (FDB) through a designated FinCEN coordinator.”
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