(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – In a letter to President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Attorney General Alan Wilson, along with 19 other state attorneys general, voiced opposition to the administration advocating a policy that would provide the federal government with access to nearly every American’s bank account and financial transaction information.
“This is frightening government overreach that violates the privacy of our citizens, will cost them more money, and would be a hacker’s dream by putting so many people’s personal information in one place,” Attorney General Wilson said.
In the letter, the attorneys general argue that banks across the country will have to transform the way in which they conduct business in order to comply with the proposed reporting requirements, including investing significant amounts of money in data collection and other systems. The letter argues that consumers will be punished in many ways, as banks would likely pass on costs in the form of fees or higher interest rates, not to mention the centralized storage of sensitive information would provide cyber criminals with an additional target to exploit with information about nearly every American.
The group says that if stopping financial criminals or punishing those who evade taxes is the goal of the administration, they will gladly join to find the right solutions based on the rule of law, but violating the rights of virtually every American with a bank account is not the answer.
In addition to South Carolina, the coalition also includes the attorneys general of the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
You can read the letter here.
