CIA monitors Americans' financial activities
The Central Intelligence Agency is collecting bulk records of international money transfers, including the financial and personal data of millions of Americans. ● Citing “officials familiar with the programs,” the Wall Street Journal reported that the CIA and FBI collect financial information when international transactions are filed through numerous money-transfer companies, including MoneyGram and Western Union. As with the National Security Agency’s surveillance efforts, the CIA’s actions are authorized under the 2001 Patriot Act and overseen by the same Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that has sanctioned the collection of millions of Americans’ phone records and digital data. As an agency that specializes in foreign intelligence gathering, the CIA is only permitted to target American citizens in connection to foreign activity. Officials told the WSJ that the intent of the program is to help track the flow of money financing terrorist organizations around the world.