‘One of the largest government surveillance programs in recent memory’
The money transfer surveillance apparatus drew the ire of civil liberties organizations, most notably the ACLU, which collected the 140 subpoenas sent by the Arizona state attorney general’s office. In statement sent to Gizmodo, the organization called the system, “one of the largest government surveillance programs in recent memory.”
“These records paint a damning portrait of government overreach,” ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project Deputy Director Nathan Freed Wessler said. “The government should not be allowed to abuse subpoenas and sweep up millions of records on huge numbers of people without any basis for suspicion. This financial surveillance program is built on repeated violations of the law and must be shut down.”
