June 1999
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48,000 sign new petition at DefendYourPrivacy.com
More than 48,000 people have logged onto the Libertarian Party's "retooled" DefendYourPrivacy.com website in its first month, and signed an electronic petition to permanently kill the Know Your Customer regulation, LP National Director Steve Dasbach reported.
"The FDIC may pretend that Know Your Customer is dead, but the American public knows better," he said. "They are still eager to take action against the federal government's attempt to spy on Americans' bank accounts -- as the continued popularity of the DefendYourPrivacy.com website proves."
The website allows people to send e-mail lobbying messages to their Representative in the U.S. House and two U.S. Senators in support of HR 516 and HR 518, two bills filed by Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX).
The proposed legislation would prohibit any federal agency from implementing any kind of Know Your Customer [KYC] regulation, and would "sunset" the federal banking laws that gave the federal government the power to propose such rules.
As of May 17, a total of 48,638 people had signed the cyber-petition in favor of HR 516 and HR 518.
The signature count is growing slower than for the original e-mail petition against the Know Your Customer regulation, said Dasbach -- probably because the circumstances are different.
"With the original Know Your Customer regulation, there was a strict time limit for public comments [March 8], and our goal was straightforward and simple: Tell the FDIC to squash their proposed regulation," he said.
"Now, there isn't that same sense of urgency, and the goal is a little more complicated: Trying to convince members of Congress to co-sponsor and support two pieces of legislation."
The petition is also hampered, he admitted, by the fact that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC] did "withdraw" the Know Your Customer regulation -- which may have given people a false sense of victory.
"The problem is, even though the KYC regulation has been withdrawn, most banks are still being pressured to implement it as a 'policy,' and there is strong evidence that the regulation itself may be reintroduced," he said.
"Even worse, a recent study by the American Bankers Association revealed that over 88% of U.S. banks already had some kind of Know Your Customer policy in place, thanks to informal pressure from the FDIC. All the evidence suggests that KYC is down, but not out."
That's why the Libertarian Party will keep promoting the DefendYourPrivacy.com website, and continue lobbying for HR 516 and HR 518, he said.
* HR 516 ("The Know Your Customer Sunset Act") would prohibit the FDIC, Federal Reserve, and other agencies from implementing any Know Your Customer-style regulation.
* HR 518 ("The Bank Secrecy Sunset Act") would scrap the Nixon-era Bank Secrecy Act, which provides the regulatory excuse to monitor individuals' banking habits. The bill would require Congress to either rewrite the law, or devolve regulatory power to the states.
The DefendYourPrivacy.com website offers the text of the two bills, explains their purpose, allows people to directly contact their Congressional representatives, and provides the means to send messages to other interested people about the campaign.
The original DefendYourPrivacy.com website, targeting just the FDIC, generated 171,000 e-mail signatures against KYC.
"Our previous campaign against Know Your Customer put the regulation on hold," said Dasbach. "Our new campaign in favor of HR 516 and HR 518 could kill it for good -- by taking away the federal government's power to sneak such spying laws in the back door."
To visit the website, go to: http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com.
