Staff from the European bureau of information protection have ascertained that the SWIFT system in Belgium has been providing details of a confidential nature to the US government for about the last five years. This practice began immediately following the terrorists attacks in New York on September 11th, 2001. While a thorough investigation is underway, both sides involved in the incident are making their positions known. InfoWatch experts are concerned not only by the fact of such a transfer of data, but also by the fact that the entire process was hidden from public view and even from the Belgian government.
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is one of Europe’s major financial systems. It processes around 11 million transactions daily between 7,800 banks and other financial organizations from 200 countries worldwide. In addition to any other information, SWIFT has access to users’ names and account numbers.
A thorough investigation is underway, the results of which are being awaited by members of the EC special commission. A team of 25 people is already prepared to open a court action against SWIFT, and even Belgium itself, since the country was not able to meet European norms of private information protection. In all fairness, the government knew nothing about the passing of this information overseas.
Likewise, the EC commission has a bone to pick with the European Central Bank since it is not clear what role the ECB played in the story. The bank’s president, Jean-Claude Trichet, averred that the ECB knew about the passing of data to the Americans but could do nothing to stop it.
SWIFT is taking a similar tack in its attempt to extricate itself from the incident. Naturally, it had no intention of breaking European law and infringing clients’ rights. The US ministry of finance simply forced them to hand over the data. Plus, the Americans had promised to protect the data from misuse. This is a promise which InfoWatch experts regard as highly suspect. As we all know, every friend has a friend…
The details in question – for the most part a list of financial transactions and data about their participants – was used by the US in its “war against terrorism”. What could be more noble? This is what SWIFT representatives prefer to concentrate on. They would have it that the problem is not in the passing of confidential information per se, but in the considerable difference in European and American approaches to the problem of terrorism. What is needed is to standardize legislation across the board at the highest level.
Denis Zenkin, InfoWatch’s Marketing Director says, “Anti-terrorist measures are all well and good, but the protection of private information must be observed. And if data has to be shared, then the private citizens concerned should be informed that their personal information has been passed to a third party.”
Source: Associated Press
