[USA] FinCEN directing banks to track purchases of potential extremists

Privacy
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Came across this request from the House Judiciary Committee to interview Noah Bishoff, an AML Officer for Plaid. In the request, it is alleged that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) directed banks and financial institutions to track purchases in an attempt to identify extremists. A slide on the 2nd page lists some of the criteria being used by Key Bank to detect potential active shooters.

This thread isn’t meant to be a place to discuss American gun laws, how to curtail mass shootings, or the politics surrounding those issues. It’s to discuss the government and private companies working in concert to track the activities of citizens and the privacy implications of such actions, and potential solutions to avoid being needlessly tracked.

All I have to say regarding the above is that cash is king.

4 Likes
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Agreed, cash is king. People forget that the convenience of credit cards comes at the cost of payment processing companies wringing out metadata from you to earn extra money, all the while having full traceability in what your purchase.

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Yeah, but the main issue with that for terrorists is they would need rooms full of it in order to buy weapons and other materials, so they’re unable to deal with that. FinCEN likely knows that.

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The recent FinCEN BOI declaration is okish.