According to a new report by The Wall Street Journal, a number of US government agencies have been collecting detailed money transfer records of Americans without a warrant.
Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general stating that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has spied on money transfers of over $500 sent to or from Mexico.
To critics, it is a potentially unconstitutional overreach of government and an attack on civil liberties. It is a way to fight organized crime.
The program has been covertly operating since at least 2010 at the direction of the Arizona attorney general's office, but came into the spotlight after Wyden contacted the DHS last month.
Given the many serious issues raised by this troubling program, I request that you investigate the program's origins, how the program operated, and whether the program was consistent with agency policy, statutory law, and the Constitution.
Money transfer services such as Western Union, not banks, were spied on by ICE. The Transaction Record Analysis Center was created in order to monitor for money-laundering activities and has since shared data with hundreds of agencies, according to the report.
The US Customs and Border Protection agency used the data to vet foreigners entering the country, while the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency used the data to track Mexican drug traffickers.
Privacy advocates are angry. The American Civil Liberties Union senior staff attorney Nathan Freed Wessler told the WSJ that TRAC was created to shield the program from public scrutiny.
The dragnet program from the Department of Homeland Security is illegal, and it is stunning that it was allowed to run for a single day.
People involved with the program claim it is in the public interest.
The company works with law enforcement to comply with valid subpoenas and other legitimate requests.
A spokeswoman for the office of Arizona's attorney general told the paper that TRAC was monitoring money transfers.
At the end of the day, it is still a highly controversial US government program that was being hidden from public scrutiny. Western Union failed to protect the privacy of their already at-risk customer base, as he wrote in his letter.
Money transfer businesses are disproportionately used by low-income, minority, and immigrant communities.
He said that government agencies should focus their resources on people who are suspected of breaking the law.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a senator said that the program collects money- transfer data.
Apple employees are unionizing and they are using phones that are unlocked to keep Apple from being spied on.
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