Pubdate: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck