FBI And CIA Use Patriot Act's Bulk Data Collection To Get Money Transfer Data
from the of-course-they-do dept
You didn't think that the bulk collection of phone record information was the only set of records that the intelligence community collected in bulk under the PATRIOT Act, did you? Of course not. That provision says it can be used for "any tangible thing," and since that seems to include bulk data collection, money transfer info sure would be handy for the feds. Both the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal are running fairly detailed stories about this bulk collection of money transfer data, which is managed by the FBI, but where the data is quickly shipped on to the CIA. They claim that they're focused on foreign-foreign transactions, but sometimes they'll collect Foreign-Domestic transfers as well.The NY Times piece has a fun section describing all the little ways NSA and other intelligence officials have more or less let it slip that a program like this was going on -- but also quotes someone saying that there's at least one more type of bulk collection that hasn't been revealed yet (and it may be more than one). The WSJ article reveals that Congress only just found out about this program over the summer, even though it's been approved by the FISA Court for a while -- so the usual defenses from the NSA's best friends is inevitable: "it's all legal," they'll say. That said, the report also notes that some in Congress were quite worried.
Of course, some others, even those who worked in the government, find this whole thing problematic. The WSJ piece has a great quote from Timothy Edgar, who worked as a private lawyer for the NSA and the Director of National Intelligence, where he basically tells them that this information should be public:
"The public has a right to know about the broad outlines of how the government is collecting information on them," he said, noting that the FISA Court has noted the existence of other collection programs. "As a matter of basic good governance, the government should be more transparent about these kinds of collection programs."Yeah, but the US isn't really big on "good governance," is it? In the end, this might not be surprising (and should have you wondering about what other data troves the US collects via Section 215), but it's still quite revealing. It also reminds us that the government is likely collecting a lot more that hasn't been revealed yet.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: bulk collection, cia, fbi, money transfers, nsa, patriot act, section 215, surveillance
Companies: western union
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Now we'll get something done
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Oh, it's a "limited hangout": THEY DO WANT YOU TO KNOW!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Now we'll get something done
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pissing into the wind
Who is funding that pipeline? Why hasn't the U.S. been able to cut it off? Why isn't that question even being discussed? You've got to figure that the national security apparatchiks aren't complete idiots. They've got to know enough to focus on Taliban logistics and financing.
Maybe it doesn't matter anymore, really. The U.S. isn't just losing in Af/Pak. The U.S. is pretty far down the road to “lost”.
P.S. I apologize: Shouldn't use the word “lost”. The U.S. is currently in the middle of the process of “Declaring victory and getting out”.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Now we'll get something done
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/08/Is-the-Obama-Administration-Collecting-Yo ur-Confidential-Credit-Card-Data
http://cei.org/news-releases/dodd-frank-unconstitutional-power-grab- says-new-lawsuit
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Pissing into the wind
[ link to this | view in thread ]
in other words, they're doing the same with this info as with phone/message info, grabbing the lot and storing it all 'just in case'! is there actually any info that isn't hoovered up, i wonder?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Pissing into the wind
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Living in a Society of Fear
[ link to this | view in thread ]