We have discussed here and at Brock much of what is in Now Lebanon’s article FATCA’s Security Problem. I think this is the first article I have seen with it all in one piece.
The author Michael Young is the opinion editor for The Daily Star in Lebanon. He certainly “gets” FATCA. I wonder if he is a “US person” there.
He writes of the privacy issues for American citizens and spouses, “abusive” burden on financial institutions and difficulties in accessing banking in some countries.
Mr. Young says FATCA is “a case of America throwing its global weight around.” Plus:
The civil liberties implications are profoundly disturbing.
Mr. Young calls one area of FATCA “potentially hazardous.” FATCA is demanding FFIs become “vast repositories” of personal information on American citizens with no guidelines for security of this information.
For a country obsessed with the security of its citizens in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, such behavior is paradoxical, indeed astonishing.
Mr. Young is as perplexed as we are on Department of State silence on FATCA.
At a time when American embassies regularly issue advisories to citizens to guarantee their safety, we are seeing the IRS asking institutions abroad to gather the most sensitive facts on Americans, with no oversight. The irresponsibility is breathtaking.
Mr. Young says it is “no wonder Americans across the globe are outraged.
IRS would not dare replicate FATCA in the United States.
Thanks for posting this Blaze. I haven’t been able to keep up at IBS and had not seen this article. Wow. Never crossed my mind that USCs abroad could become targets. FATCA is a never-ending nightmare. How can the US gov not see how impossible it is for them to gain enough to warrant the costs/risks?
@Nobledreamer: “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” (Proverb)
The United States of Arrogance is blinded by its disdain for all things “foreign,” including their own citizens (and former citizens) who choose to live elsewhere. There is no better example of that than their expectation that other countries should simply change their laws and constitutions to accommodate US demands on FATCA.
In line with other “potentially hazardous” FATCA issues, IRS Modernization Could Expose Taxpayer Data.
http://gcn.com/blogs/pulse/2012/12/irs-modernization-could-expose-taxpayer-data.aspx
Great. Just what we need, especially with IRS itself reporting cases identity theft “escalating at a rapid rate.”
http://fcw.com/articles/2012/12/03/irs-identity-theft.aspx
Although IRS is “clueless” as to how big a problem identity theft is, it’s estimated they lost $5.2 billion in 2011.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/03/rise-in-identity-theft-related-tax-fraud-study_n_2231527.html
And they want my financial information? Think again.
IRS and Congress should concentrate efforts on real tax cheats at home rather than going after “traitors” living “offshore.”
Agreed. Wonder if IRS is at all liable for damages caused by info leaked from their end?
Blaze ,Very good post!