SWIFT a threat to EU economy
I'll write this blog post in english as it mainly concern EU-policy and not local Swedish matters.
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I am one of the many that are deeply concerned by the fact that there is once again discussions about allowing USA to obtain transaction data from EU banks through SWIFT.
Not only is this a huge intrusion in the private life and integrity of the EU citizens. There are other issues at stake as well.
By giving away our bank data, we are in effect giving away the competetivness of our industry to USA. In a time of economic crisis and a EURO under hard pressure it does not seem like the smartest thing to do.
By looking into the transaction flow and see who pays who how much, it is easy to find out what suppliers a company is using and how much they are paying them. So in effect it will be easy for a USA based company to find out what production price their european competitiors have got, and by looking into details they could also find out future plans for new products by making notes of any new companies on their list of suppliers.
As the american system works with industry lobbyists having direct access to those in power, there is no doubt that if their industry wants access to this information they will get it. That the Obama administration would prioritize european employment figures over american seems highly unlikely.
That the latest suggestion from Commissioner Malmström says that police organisations like FBI would need to "specify their suspicions" before looking in the data is just "smoke and mirrors", FBI jurisdiction is only USA internal, international terrorism is the jurisdiction of CIA. It is widely known that CIA at several occations have been spying on other countries delegations to find out their bids/offers to help their own industry to win large contracts.
The information available through SWIFT should not be given away unless EU is given the same kind of information from USA in return, and that means all their bank transactions. Giving them our information with only a vague promise to perhaps getting som information in return, (most likely only false positives), is not an option.
Our own intelligence services should be fully capable to digest the information themselves should it be considered necessary (Which I hope not). What additional value would american intelligence services provide?
* If there are american citizens that are planning terrorism on EU soil there will not be anything to be found in european bank data.
* If there are europeans planning to do something towards the US, the information about that is valuable to USA, but of no value to EU, so USA should give us something of value back.
* If there are europeans planning terrorism inside EU, why involve the americans? They have a tradition of not sending out warnings since they do not want people to know how much they know. The inquires made after 9/11 shows several cases of that.
I consider it a major intrusion in the private life of the european citizens to look at this data and belive that we should not allow anyone to access it, unless there are strong suspicions of a crime, especially not a foreign country that has no interest in protecting european citizens.
Best regards
/J-O
- - - -
I am one of the many that are deeply concerned by the fact that there is once again discussions about allowing USA to obtain transaction data from EU banks through SWIFT.
Not only is this a huge intrusion in the private life and integrity of the EU citizens. There are other issues at stake as well.
By giving away our bank data, we are in effect giving away the competetivness of our industry to USA. In a time of economic crisis and a EURO under hard pressure it does not seem like the smartest thing to do.
By looking into the transaction flow and see who pays who how much, it is easy to find out what suppliers a company is using and how much they are paying them. So in effect it will be easy for a USA based company to find out what production price their european competitiors have got, and by looking into details they could also find out future plans for new products by making notes of any new companies on their list of suppliers.
As the american system works with industry lobbyists having direct access to those in power, there is no doubt that if their industry wants access to this information they will get it. That the Obama administration would prioritize european employment figures over american seems highly unlikely.
That the latest suggestion from Commissioner Malmström says that police organisations like FBI would need to "specify their suspicions" before looking in the data is just "smoke and mirrors", FBI jurisdiction is only USA internal, international terrorism is the jurisdiction of CIA. It is widely known that CIA at several occations have been spying on other countries delegations to find out their bids/offers to help their own industry to win large contracts.
The information available through SWIFT should not be given away unless EU is given the same kind of information from USA in return, and that means all their bank transactions. Giving them our information with only a vague promise to perhaps getting som information in return, (most likely only false positives), is not an option.
Our own intelligence services should be fully capable to digest the information themselves should it be considered necessary (Which I hope not). What additional value would american intelligence services provide?
* If there are american citizens that are planning terrorism on EU soil there will not be anything to be found in european bank data.
* If there are europeans planning to do something towards the US, the information about that is valuable to USA, but of no value to EU, so USA should give us something of value back.
* If there are europeans planning terrorism inside EU, why involve the americans? They have a tradition of not sending out warnings since they do not want people to know how much they know. The inquires made after 9/11 shows several cases of that.
I consider it a major intrusion in the private life of the european citizens to look at this data and belive that we should not allow anyone to access it, unless there are strong suspicions of a crime, especially not a foreign country that has no interest in protecting european citizens.
Best regards
/J-O
Tags: Piratpartiet, SWIFT, Industry Espionage
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Postat av: OlofB
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