The Weaponization of Your Banking Information Against You

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Anyone who has seen the Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise film Minority Report has a decent idea of what “predictive policing” is. In the real world, cops use data analysis rather than psychic “Precogs” to predict crimes. This technology is in its infancy, but banks are now ramping up their surveillance of your actions in what they say is an attempt to predict the actions of “mass shooters.” Jenny Surane reports for Law.com:

Banks are developing technology to identify potential mass shooters, according to a CEO backing the push to get credit-card companies to more closely track gun purchases.

“Detection scenarios” are in the works that, if triggered, would prompt banks to file a Suspicious Activity Report to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Amalgamated Bank Chief Executive Officer Priscilla Sims Brown said at the New York Times DealBook conference Wednesday.

“We’re at the very early stages of this. This particular code just got approved in October, so those detection scenarios are still being brought together,” Brown said. “But as this is implemented, those scenarios will be used.”

The strategy would mirror ways banks try to identify and stop fraudsters from using customers’ funds.

The International Organization for Standardization approved a new merchant category code earlier this year that banks will use when processing transactions for gun and ammunition stores after Amalgamated submitted an application on the matter. Gun-control advocates were quick to celebrate the move, arguing it would help banks flag suspicious activity at these retailers.

While major payment networks have said they would adopt the new code, some have argued it won’t have its intended effect. Visa Inc., for example, has said it doesn’t have access to data showing the products consumers are actually buying. That means the network and its banking partners would have no idea if a gun-store customer is purchasing an automatic rifle or safety equipment.

Banks, too, have faced pressure from Congress over what they plan to do with the new codes. Some conservative policymakers have said they’re concerned lenders will use the data to create an unofficial list of firearm owners in the U.S., which certain government agencies are prohibited from doing.

Banks already file thousands of suspicious activity reports every year as they detect a litany of potential misdeeds by customers. The new codes should mean they treat the issue of tracking gun purchases no differently, Brown said.

“What I’m hearing from other banks is that they have been honoring this process and this system, filing Suspicious Activity Reports across a myriad of industries to stop a myriad of crimes, or at least alert authorizes of them,” she said. “And I have every confidence that banks are going to do the same thing here.”

Action Line: Increasing surveillance and documentation of Americans’ movements and transactions is turning the country into a virtual Panopticon, where privacy is an unknown state. The constant barrage of intrusion into their daily lives is stressing Americans out, and increasing their perception of risk in the economy. For a monthly analysis of risk perception in America, click here to subscribe to my free monthly RAGE Gauge alert.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.