Kerby Anderson
We have another example of the growing surveillance state. This comes from the revelation that the Securities and Exchange Commission is completing a database of all Americans’ stock and equity transactions and portfolios. It will track investments in real time.
Some experts have expressed concerns. Former US Attorney General Bill Barr says the database presents a “huge concern.” In a recent interview, Barr explained, “you could have someone at the SEC say, ‘Let me check out this person and see if I can find something on them.’” He argued that this database of all American’s stock and equity transaction information would allow SEC employees to go on “fishing expeditions.”
This may be the first you have heard of this. Fortunately, former vice president Mike Pence’s organization, Advancing American Freedom (AAF), is attempting to raise awareness.
How do we lose our privacy? We lose it bit by bit, always with the justification that it is being done for our own good. In my booklet on “Digital Surveillance,” I document how both big government and big business are collecting massive amounts of data on us and how it can be used against us.
More than a decade ago, the SEC decided to build a giant database to capture trades. Then it just grew and grew. And critics say the SEC avoided congressional scrutiny by putting pressure on self-regulating organizations.
A few members of Congress and a coalition of conservative policy experts signed a letter expressing concern about the project. They predict the database upon completion “would be the world’s largest database outside of the National Security Agency.”
This is how government grows and how we lose our privacy.