Un-fücking believable.
U.S. law could open millions of Canadian Visa records
MICHELLE SHEPHARD
STAFF REPORTER
A small sheet of paper slipped in with the bills of millions of Canadian Visa cardholders has sparked an investigation by Canada's Privacy Commissioner and calls for the federal government to stand up for the privacy rights of its citizens.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Visa customers were sent an amendment to their cardholder agreement this month warning their financial information could be disclosed in accordance with U.S. laws.
[snip]
"Information can now be passed on without your knowledge, without even the CIBC knowing it and nothing has been done about this," Masse said in an interview yesterday.
In recent years both CIBC and RBC Financial have outsourced their credit card operations to a Georgia-based company called Total System Services Inc., which means that Canadian cardholder information now falls under U.S. legislation.
[snip]
Masse says Canadians are now affected by Section 215 of the U.S. Patriot Act, which was enacted a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and greatly expands the powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A lawsuit launched by the American Civil Liberties Union, currently before the U.S. District Court in Michigan, strives to have that section of the act ruled unconstitutional.
"To obtain a Section 215 order, the FBI need only assert that the records or personal belongings are `sought for' an ongoing foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, or international terrorism investigation," the lawsuit says.
"The FBI is not required to show probable cause — or any reason — to believe that the target of the order is a criminal suspect or foreign agent."
__________
Well, guess where ALL of my banking activity is held? I have contacted my bank manager this morning, highly concerned. My statements have ongoing donations to leftist organisations (including and especially a total of six anti-war groups in the US), a spiel of books on Bush and the Neocons, my gambling activity (a non-issue here), plus plus plus. I've heard of a few Canadians who have been turned away at the border for being 'flagged' as (and I'm not making this up) 'unfriendly activists.' I am scheduled to pitch to a potential client in New York next week. This is utterly fantastic. Either my bank switches credit card companies, or I do.
Absolutely, positively, fücked.
U.S. law could open millions of Canadian Visa records
MICHELLE SHEPHARD
STAFF REPORTER
A small sheet of paper slipped in with the bills of millions of Canadian Visa cardholders has sparked an investigation by Canada's Privacy Commissioner and calls for the federal government to stand up for the privacy rights of its citizens.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Visa customers were sent an amendment to their cardholder agreement this month warning their financial information could be disclosed in accordance with U.S. laws.
[snip]
"Information can now be passed on without your knowledge, without even the CIBC knowing it and nothing has been done about this," Masse said in an interview yesterday.
In recent years both CIBC and RBC Financial have outsourced their credit card operations to a Georgia-based company called Total System Services Inc., which means that Canadian cardholder information now falls under U.S. legislation.
[snip]
Masse says Canadians are now affected by Section 215 of the U.S. Patriot Act, which was enacted a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and greatly expands the powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A lawsuit launched by the American Civil Liberties Union, currently before the U.S. District Court in Michigan, strives to have that section of the act ruled unconstitutional.
"To obtain a Section 215 order, the FBI need only assert that the records or personal belongings are `sought for' an ongoing foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, or international terrorism investigation," the lawsuit says.
"The FBI is not required to show probable cause — or any reason — to believe that the target of the order is a criminal suspect or foreign agent."
__________
Well, guess where ALL of my banking activity is held? I have contacted my bank manager this morning, highly concerned. My statements have ongoing donations to leftist organisations (including and especially a total of six anti-war groups in the US), a spiel of books on Bush and the Neocons, my gambling activity (a non-issue here), plus plus plus. I've heard of a few Canadians who have been turned away at the border for being 'flagged' as (and I'm not making this up) 'unfriendly activists.' I am scheduled to pitch to a potential client in New York next week. This is utterly fantastic. Either my bank switches credit card companies, or I do.
Absolutely, positively, fücked.
