New Info-Sharing Regs Make Tracking Easier

sgtrock writes: "This one is bad. Really, really bad. According to BankTech News, the U.S. Treasury Department has proposed new regulations that essentially allow banks and the Feds to share information about any individual who ends up on a watch list. This action is based upon their interpretation of the USA Patriot Act. If this goes through, forget your right to privacy, folks. It doesn't exist! Check out the whole story. Write your Congress critters, your Senators, and the Treasury Department. Let them know just how bad an idea this is."

Comments

Use cash as much as possible, folks!

[Deagol]

Every payday, I go to my credit union and take out everything but the little money I have automatically withdrawn towards a mutual fund. I then go the the post office and pony up $0.90 for each money order and mail my bills. Of course I hand-deliver some of my bills and paymemts, where the banks have local branches.

When I first started doing this, it was a little odd and inconvenient. Now, I feel a great sense of liberty. Excepting my bills, nobody knows what the hell I'm doing with my money. Cash transactions are a lot faster at stores, plus there's always money on-hand.

Ever since the "Know Your Customer" initiative a few years back, and since learning about SARs, I've become even more wary of financial institutions. It's gotten to the point where I'm thinking about socking away my savings (which goes now into mutual funds) into a safe. Mr. Ashcroft can look at my records all he wants and he won't see much. Losing a little bit of interest is worth it to me, in order that I may have a little more privacy in this witch-hunt government we now have to live with.

I don't like the fact that: 1) My financial history can be reviewed on a whim; and 2) My assets can be siezed almost on a whim. Look at those poor folks in South America, whose banks throttled their own money usage. I won't ever be caught in that situation.

I usually don't have that much money on-hand, so all you scare-mongers can hold back on the "what if you get mugged" thing. I pay all bills and do any essential expenditures that same day (the big grocery spree, getting car tuned, etc.).

If only I could force my employer to pay in cash. They recently began requiring direct deposit!