ABSTRACT
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions (SWIFT) affair is an example of a growing tendency to use information held in the private sector for public security purposes. The SWIFT affair illustrates the difficulty of balancing security interests against privacy concerns, which are generally respected but might be dismissed under extreme circumstances. In June 2007, SWIFT announced, presumably under pressure from the Belgian data protection authority, a plan to redesign the architecture of its messaging network and build a new operating center in Switzerland. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, the United States Department of the Treasury initiated the terrorist finance tracking program to identify, track, and pursue terrorists and their networks. As part of this mission, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control began to issue administrative subpoenas on SWIFT to obtain financial transaction information on individuals and/or entities suspected to be related to terrorist activities.
