Remember the PATRIOT Act? That's the controversial piece of legislation that the US passed following 9/11. It's controversial because it gave law enforcement sweeping new powers. And notice that I said "following" 9/11 and not "as a result of". It followed the terrorist attack so quickly that's it hard to believe that the bulk of the act wasn't already written with its authors just waiting for an opportunity to push it through.
Do you have a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Visa card? If so, the FBI might soon be getting to know you better. And you won't even know it's happening.
U.S. law could open millions of Canadian Visa records
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.
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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.
In the interest of being fair and balanced, here's what the CIBC had to say.
... CIBC spokesperson Susan McDougall said yesterday the notice sent to cardholders did not indicate any changes in the way information is handled."Nothing in the Patriot Act or any other post-9/11 legislation has altered CIBC's relationship with its service provider or the types of information it processes," she said.
"CIBC decided to update the privacy provisions in its cardholder agreement, in order to provide more detailed disclosure about our collection, use and disclosure of personal information. There is no new legislation behind the amendments."
And that, dear reader, would be your classic non-denial denial. What's at issue isn't the CIBC's policies or it's relationship with it's service provider. What's at issue is that the service provider is in Georgia which, strangely enough, falls within the PATRIOT Act's jurisdiction. And if you parse Ms. McDougall's statement you'll see that nothing she says actually addresses that.
NDP MP Brian Masse seems to be leading the charge on behalf of our privacy, criticizing the Canadian government for being complacent by not challenging controversial American legislation. But I'm not sure what the government could do short of making it illegal for the banks to outsource their processing to American companies. And wouldn't that run afoul of NAFTA?
Meanwhile, what took the CIBC so long? The PATRIOT Act was passed nearly three years ago. Did it take them this long to figure out the ramifications of doing business with a company in Georgia and inform their customers what it really means?
As to what it really means:
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."
Is your credit card with Scotiabank or the Bank of Montreal? No problem since all their operations are in Canada. TD Financial Group? You only need to worry if you have the U.S. Dollar Advantage Visa.
To those of you who are affected by this, welcome to John Ashcroft's War on Privacy™. Here's hoping the ACLU pulls this one off.
I mostly pay cash instead of visa or debit(no I'm not a luddite;the concept of being charged fees to spend my money tics me off)but I'll be switching my CIBC visa to another provider anyway.Having been deported and banned from Fortress America, I know firsthand what giving away Canadians info to Americans can do.Many years ago the government quietly gave the INS and Border services access to CPAC and despite recieving a formal Pardon for my grievous crime(busted for holding a roach as a kid)the INS was still able to obtain my supposedly expunged records and I would assume any other info the RCMP had on me.Being unable to visit my favorite dropzone in Arizona is meaningless compared to the results of Arar's deportation but the processes involved remain the same.
I'll be cancelling my CIBC Visa as well. I've had it for 12 years, but it os nobody's business but my own what I buy with it (nothing, usually).
Credit Unions are a safe bet for almost everything generally.
I knew there was a reason I dropped Scotia bank all those years ago.
Thanks for the update Pogge - always interesting to see how far ranging the Patriot act really is. That's one brutal piece of legislation.
Thanks, POGGE -- I usually never bother reading any of the envelope stuffers that accompany my Visa bill.
You know, I seem to remember some story about this two or three years ago, soon after the PA was passed, and it said then that Canadians had nothing to worry about regardless of which country was involved in their data management, that our Canadian companies would protect their privacy no matter where their data was stored -- I don't remember the details, but what I do remember thinking at the time was "bullshit!"