Many governments are getting very nervous. They struggle with debt, over spending, currency emergencies and new strains on the economy like the European refugee crisis.
So they are keen to make sure that all tax revenues that can be collected will be collected. And mass surveillance gives them a tool to do so.
Also, the move towards a cash free society makes it easier for politicians and bureaucrats to keep track of you and your money.
For years, we have sent bulk data about European bank transfers to the US security bureaucracy under the pretext of fighting terrorism and organized crime (TFTP). In the EU, plans are to replace this system with a European one — aimed to register, control and analyze all of our bank transfers.
In some high-tax countries with submissive population, like Sweden, information from data retention of telecommunications is already being used for taxation purposes.
And this is not just about taxes. If your government controls all your monetary assets, it owns you. Which might come in handy if, someday, people in power would like to curb opposition, limit your civil liberties — or just make your life very difficult.
With no private economic sphere, people are totally in the hands of their whimsical governments and its functionaries.
When it comes to “regular” surveillance concerns, having access to information about your transactions will provide the authorities with a cornucopia of information about you. More so than just surveillance of your electronic and telecommunications.
The government will always be able to give some reasons for its actions. Sometimes even seemingly rational ones. Like striking down on tax evasion. But even these reasons must be weighed against your right to privacy. Just passively accepting them could be used for introducing live surveillance of everybody 24/7.
It’s your life. And it’s your money. Period. The government should just get out of everybody’s hair.
If people could get themselves together and bring about a broader use of Bitcoins, we can bypass all of this governmental economic Big Brotherism.
/ HAX
The clausterfauck FATCA (see the English version of Wikipedia) was implemented in Sweden under the guise of Americans sending their money to Sweden in order to avoid taxation…. I understand that you need a pause now because you’ve just laughed your coffee through your nose. Wiki also explains how much Swedish money has been blown to collect taxes in Sweden from Swedish citizens for the benefit of the Land of the Free. It also explains the BS about reciprocity. Now, every person living in Sweden must sign a paper when they open a bank account in Sweden that they are not an American (if you refuse to self-certify that you are not American you cannot open a bank account in Sweden). Besides yourself, this all affects Swedish people such as:
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/vast/svenska-banker-letar-efter-amerikaner (on the bottom of the page you can see a picture of Leif Jakobsson (S) who explains in tha segment that this is part of the new order of the world)
The next step of the self-imposed global clausterfauch is called the OECD Common Reporting Standard, CRS. It arrives by about the end of 2016. In this program, every bank customer in Sweden is required to report their country of birth and city of birth to their banks. Nordea has already jumped the gun and have been forcing their telebank customers to yield this info. By collecting place of birth, your bank can treat each person differently according to country of birth and city of birth.
The last time that searches were made for people of any national origin in Sweden was during the end of the 1930’s and the first half of 1940’s.