Terrorism
Judge Dismisses Privacy Suit Against Banking Co-op
Posted Oct 22, 2007, 12:24 pm CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A federal judge in Virginia has dismissed a privacy lawsuit against a Belgian banking cooperative accused of divulging private information to help the United States track terrorist funding.
Judge T. S. Ellis III of Alexandria ruled Friday that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring the suit against the cooperative, known as Swift, the Associated Press reports. The organization is accused of disclosing personal information to third parties that included the Central Intelligence Agency and the Treasury Department.
Ellis said the plaintiffs had no evidence their banks were members of Swift or that their personal financial information was disclosed, the Jurist - Paper Chase reports. “Plaintiffs rely on their own belief that their financial information has been disclosed, but such a belief, without more, cannot support standing,” the judge wrote. An amended suit with more specifics can still be filed.
The Bush administration had earlier sought dismissal of the suit to preserve a program that battles terrorism financing and to “minimize the likelihood that highly classified information will be threatened.”