AZ AG Created a Secretive, Illegal Surveillance Program to Sweep up Millions of Our Financial Record

[Nevilledog]

https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/how-the-arizona-attorney-general-created-a-secretive-illegal-surveillance-program

Last year, Sen. Ron Wyden raised alarms about one of the largest government surveillance programs in recent memory. Sen. Wyden revealed that the Arizona attorney general’s office, in collaboration with the Phoenix Field Office of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, had engaged in the indiscriminate collection of money transfer records for transactions exceeding $500 sent to or from Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as to or from Mexico. Any time anyone in the U.S. used companies like Western Union or MoneyGram to send or receive money to or from one of these states or Mexico — whether to send a remittance home, or help a relative with an emergency expense, or pay a bill — a record of their transaction was deposited into a database controlled by the Arizona attorney general and shared with other law enforcement agencies.

Sen. Wyden’s revelation left significant questions about the scope and legality of this program unanswered, so the ACLU and the ACLU of Arizona submitted a public records request to the Arizona attorney general’s office to learn more. Today, we are sharing more than 200 documents that shed light on this mass surveillance of Americans’ sensitive financial data.

The records show the state of Arizona sending at least 140 illegal subpoenas to money transfer companies to compel them to turn over customers’ private financial data, amassing it in a huge database and giving virtually unfettered access to thousands of officers from hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the country. The database, run by an organization called the Transaction Record Analysis Center (TRAC), contained 145 million records of people’s financial transactions as of 2021, and we have reason to believe it’s still growing.

Western Union, MoneyGram, and other financial services companies often serve people who otherwise may not have access to bank accounts or traditional financial services, such as immigrant workers sending money back home to their families and people without credit scores. Because members of marginalized communities rely heavily on these services rather than traditional banks, the burden of this government surveillance falls disproportionately on those already most vulnerable to law enforcement overreach.

*snip*

[Faux pas]

1. ...

[BComplex]

2. Well well well. I've been sending Western Union $$ to my Godson in prison in Phoenix

for over a year. So I guess all my financial data is all over the world by now.

I'm sitting here in shock. And I'm pissed!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. The fact that you sent $X on Y day to Z person is all that they have in that regard

It's def. not all your financial data.

This is still really disturbing, to be clear.

[Karadeniz]

3. I heard that Rick Perry collected data on Texans and stored them in Georgia... Never heard

Anything else about it.

[Nictuku]

4. I definitely don't like the serveilance aspect

I can't help but wonder what they use the data for.

Do they sell it for commercial purposes? That would be Bad
Do they pass it on to the IRS so people can be taxed for income? That would be Bad.
Do they use it to catch Scammers? That would be Good!

I pay a lot of attention to the anti-scammer community, and it is extremely frustrating that no one seems to be doing anything to stop the literally millions, if not billions that are stolen from our Elderly annually. Often foreigners (tons of call centers in India), and the Indian police don't do anything about it because the victim us from the US (or other countries), and our Police won't do anything about it because the thieves are from a foreign country. The banking/wiring/Zelle transfers is about the only way to get information, but that doesn't do much good either.

[Farmer-Rick]

7. Yes, yes, yes

I watch these sad catfishing shows on YouTube. It's always a recently widowed elderly woman or man who gets conned by Nigerian, other countries, men or women into giving away all their life savings. It is just so sad and awful. These widowed women and men become targets of these scammers and the US government does absolutely nothing about it.

This organization tries to help these people but it's like trying to hold back a flood. So many people when they are the most vulnerable because of the loss of a lifetime partner become victims and our police and justice system does practically nothing about it.

Ireland has started fighting back against these cruel and horrible people. We should follow their examples. It is so awful to see these people who have recently lost the love of their life become just another looting jar for ruthless people.

[Lonestarblue]

6. It's long past time to revisit the many laws passed after 9/11 that gave the government

new surveillance rights. While we still need to monitor potential threats from international bad actors, our larger threat today comes from domestic terrorists. DHS has also grown into a behemoth agency with multiple different law enforcement agents, some of whom Trump turned into his private army answerable only to him during the George Floyd protests. No president should have the right to create a private army outside normal law enforcement channels to serve his personal and political desires. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the size and purpose of this agency.

[former9thward]

8. The newly elected AZ AG, a Democrat, has said she will keep using the program.

The program has been administered by two Republicans and one Democrat. Also by the US Dept of Homeland Security.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

9. I wonder if the current Extreme Court will ignore illegal search and seizure.

From the article:

The human toll of this kind of government surveillance is grave. It can have far-reaching consequences for people’s lives — particularly for members of communities of color, who are disproportionately subject to unjustified surveillance. This is especially harmful because it subjects everyday people to unwarranted scrutiny by law enforcement, and allows the government to amass information about millions of people’s ordinary activities without justification. This kind of routine surveillance is corrosive, and it chills the very kind of speech and association on which democracy depends.

These records paint a damning portrait of government overreach. The government should not be allowed to abuse subpoenas and sweep up millions of records on a huge number of people without any basis for suspicion. This financial surveillance program is built on repeated violations of the law and must be shut down.

[gratuitous]

10. No problem

Republicans will just go back to their old Dubya stand-by: If you haven't done anything wrong, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Which means they know damn well that what they're doing is illegal.

[gldstwmn]

11. I just saw this tonight.

I cannot say that I am surprised. It doesn't make it any less appalling.