UK “Civil Liberties” Group Seeks to Block SWIFT
Charles Johnson
Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 2:04 pm PDT • Views: 298
Now that the New York Times has appointed themselves America’s shadow government, here come the George Soros-funded international terrorist enablers to make sure Al Qaeda’s privacy isn’t violated: Group Asks Gov’ts to Block Data Release. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)
LONDON — A civil liberties group said Wednesday that it had asked governments around the world to block the release of confidential financial records to U.S. anti-terrorism authorities.
London-based watchdog Privacy International said it had filed complaints with data protection and privacy regulators in 13 European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, arguing that the disclosures of financial transactions “were made without any legal basis or authority whatsoever.”
The complaints ask authorities to “intervene to seek the immediate suspension of the disclosure program pending legal review.”
The U.S. Treasury Department acknowledged Friday that it had tracked millions of financial transactions handled by the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.
SWIFT oversees about 11 million financial transactions a day among banks and financial institutions worldwide, recording customers’ names, account numbers and other identifying information.
Privacy International’s director, Simon Davies, said the secret CIA-Treasury program “shows yet again how the U.S. willfully disregards the privacy rights not only of its own citizens, but also the rights of foreign nationals.”
Frank says: