BANKING PRIVACY

Congress should prevent tellers from being made into cops

Proposed new "Know Your Customer" rules rules requiring banks to gather data
on all customer transactions is another step toward more intrusive
government that is best avoided.

The proposed regulations, aimed at rooting out the laundering of money by
criminals, would require banks to set up a system to track customers'
sources of income and their typical patterns of financial activity.

If a bank detected "suspicious" activity in a customer's accounts, it would
be required to notify federal investigators.

Honest Americans don't need this. And they shouldn't be made to endure or
pay for an overly intrusive snooping system that has only a dubious
capability to catch crooks.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside, is leading a charge to overturn these
measures.

The proposed requirements may be well intended, but they needlessly erode
the privacy of honest, hard-working Americans and turn bank tellers into
cops.

"We proclaim that American citizens have the right to be free of the
snooping, spying, prying eyes of government bureaucrats," Paul said. His
legislation, he says, would "give Americans the peace of mind that comes
from knowing that their every financial step is not being filed away and
viewed as potentially criminal."

As Paul notes, if the government wants to see a person's banking records it
already has the power of a search warrant.

Interestingly, the regulation is opposed by the American Bankers Association
because of its costs and concerns about privacy.

The American Civil Liberties Union has also joined Paul and his
congressional co-sponsors in opposing these proposed regulations.

Banks are already required to report customers' cash transactions of $10,000
or more.