Duval Times

Senators Rick Scott and Mike Lee have introduced the Saving Privacy Act, a legislative proposal aimed at addressing government overreach in the collection of Americans' financial data. This bill seeks to protect personal financial information from unwarranted government surveillance.

Senator Rick Scott stated, "Big government has no place in law-abiding Americans’ personal finances. It is a massive overreach of the government and a gross violation of their privacy." He emphasized that the act would allow federal agencies to pursue criminals while safeguarding innocent citizens' data.

Senator Mike Lee expressed similar concerns, saying, "The federal government has no business surveilling the financial activities of millions of innocent Americans." He argued that current practices undermine privacy rights without effectively targeting true financial criminals.

Experts from the Cato Institute, including Norbert Michel, Jennifer Schulp, and Nicholas Anthony, support this initiative. They remarked, “This kind of reform restores the proper balance—as provided by the Fourth Amendment—between Americans’ privacy rights and law enforcement’s ability to gather evidence to enforce laws."

Bryan Bashur from Americans for Tax Reform also backed the legislation. He highlighted its importance in protecting consumers from threats such as tracking stock trading and electronic payment activity.

Yaël Ossowski from the Consumer Choice Center noted that instead of burdening banks with excessive reporting requirements on cash withdrawals, Senator Lee's act would restore consumer financial privacy while still allowing authorities to target criminal activities effectively.

Recent statistics reveal inefficiencies in current surveillance efforts. In FY2023, 25.4 million suspicious activity reports (SARs) were filed with FinCEN but yielded less than 0.3% success in IRS-CI and FBI cases. Additionally, agencies like FinCEN and SEC have been criticized for monitoring transactions related to political affiliations or religious purchases without congressional approval.

The Saving Privacy Act aims to rectify these issues by repealing certain reporting requirements under existing laws like the Bank Secrecy Act and Corporate Transparency Act. It also proposes strengthening Fourth Amendment protections and requiring congressional approval for new databases collecting personal information.

Key provisions include prohibiting a Central Bank Digital Currency creation and instituting penalties for federal employees who illegally access protected financial information.