Privacy, Spying and the Lost Cash Economy

I'm not yet eligible for Medicare, and yet I can remember when it was not just possible but common for people to live a middle-class life without a credit card, loan or even bank account.  They got paid in cash or checks they could cash at the grocer, and paid cash for everything, including rent and a used car. The utility companies had local offices at which you could pay your bills in cash. You could even travel by air using cash to buy your ticket at the airport. Hotels accepted cash without ID. Unless the store clerk knew you personally, there was no way for anybody to find out what you'd bought or how much you paid for it.

Sure, it was more trouble and time-consuming than clicking a mouse, but there was no paper trail - or rather pixel trail.

Now the cash economy is no more.  Unless you are willing to live on the very margins of the economy, you cannot survive without a bank account and credit cards.

Which means that soon Homeland Security will know everything about every penny you get and every penny you spend.

DS Wright at Firedoglake:

As the Obama Administration continues to expand the policies of the Bush Administration, the newest theater of the War on Terror is your checking account.

The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

Is the real war on privacy or on restraints of State power?

Financial institutions that operate in the United States are required by law to file reports of “suspicious customer activity,” such as large money transfers or unusually structured bank accounts, to Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation already has full access to the database. However, intelligence agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, currently have to make case-by-case requests for information to FinCEN.

The Treasury plan would give spy agencies the ability to analyze more raw financial data than they have ever had before, helping them look for patterns that could reveal attack plots or criminal schemes.

Now let’s talk about why this is hilarious and has nothing to do with stopping terrorism financing.

There is a company called HSBC that laundered money for Mexican Drug Cartels, Iran, and Al-Qaeda. They even helped launder money for the bank that helped fund the 9/11 attacks. So you would expect a government really concerned with terrorist’s financial activity would crackdown hard on a bank facilitating terrorist attacks on the United States right? Wrong.

HSBC paid a small fine representing a few weeks profit and went on about their business. No jail time for money laundering for terrorists and drug cartels and not even a hint that their charter to operate was in jeopardy. And that makes sense if the War on Terror is about preventing dissent in America, not stopping terrorist attacks. Now intelligence agencies will be able to track your every purchase and transaction to ensure you are a good citizen.

Emptywheel has more on “this batshit crazy plan”.