EU says U.S. Terrorist Finance Tracking Program kept privacy safeguards

The European Union (EU) said last week that the U.S. Treasury Department had honored its commitment to protecting privacy in its handling of EU-originating personal financial transaction records, which are used to track and prevent terrorism by the United States. European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot presented a report last week to the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee on findings of a review of the matter.

The report demonstrates that the U.S. Treasury Department has implemented significant and effective controls and safeguards which ensure respect for the protection of personal data.

“I am pleased to confirm that the United States Treasury Department has been vigilant from the outset in respecting the safeguards in the handling of personal data,” said Barrot, who is in charge of justice, liberty and security affairs.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Treasury Department developed the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) for the investigation, prevention and prosecution of terrorism. Under the TFTP, the Treasury Department has served administrative subpoenas on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). These subpoenas require SWIFT in the U. S. to transfer a limited subset of message data held on its U.S. server to the Treasury Department where they may be used for counter terrorism purposes regarding suspected individuals or entities.