Gold9472
07-07-2006, 09:03 AM
British bank secrets 'being sent to US'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,200-2260485,00.html
By Jonathan Richards
7/7/2006
DETAILS of 4.6 million financial transactions made in Britain each year are being disclosed to US intelligence agencies for use in anti-terrorist operations, privacy campaigners say.
Up to 20 million British transactions have been supplied since the practice began four years ago, according to Privacy International, a London-based body. Washington has suggested that the information has been “useful” in unspecified anti-terrorist operations.
The estimate is based on figures supplied by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), which provides instructions for transfers between banks and stock exchanges. “Sources within Swift have acknowledged that approximately 1 per cent of Swift’s traffic — including more than 460 million financial transactions originating in the UK — is relevant to the agreement (between the Swift and the US), resulting in most or all of the data being diverted to the US,” Privacy International said.
The body, which has demanded the suspension of Swift’s disclosures, said that it did not seek “to challenge the existence of provisions to disclose personal information on legitimate grounds of national security or counter-terrorism”, but that “such disclosures must be subject to established legal procedures”. The Information Commissioner’s Office said that it was seeking clarification on the case.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,200-2260485,00.html
By Jonathan Richards
7/7/2006
DETAILS of 4.6 million financial transactions made in Britain each year are being disclosed to US intelligence agencies for use in anti-terrorist operations, privacy campaigners say.
Up to 20 million British transactions have been supplied since the practice began four years ago, according to Privacy International, a London-based body. Washington has suggested that the information has been “useful” in unspecified anti-terrorist operations.
The estimate is based on figures supplied by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), which provides instructions for transfers between banks and stock exchanges. “Sources within Swift have acknowledged that approximately 1 per cent of Swift’s traffic — including more than 460 million financial transactions originating in the UK — is relevant to the agreement (between the Swift and the US), resulting in most or all of the data being diverted to the US,” Privacy International said.
The body, which has demanded the suspension of Swift’s disclosures, said that it did not seek “to challenge the existence of provisions to disclose personal information on legitimate grounds of national security or counter-terrorism”, but that “such disclosures must be subject to established legal procedures”. The Information Commissioner’s Office said that it was seeking clarification on the case.