Vice News revealed the details of a confidential database that banks, employers and others use to blacklist customers.
The World-Check database also includes major charities, activists, and mainstream religious institutions under its category of “terrorism.”
The confidential service claims it is used by over 300 government and intelligence agencies, 49 of the 50 biggest banks, pre-employment vetting agencies and 9 of the top 10 global law firms. It says it provides “an early warning system for hidden risk.
The database now lists more than 2.7 million individuals and entities spanning a variety of categories. Since 2007, the number of terror entries has risen fivefold.
But don’t worry (too much) about snagging the wrong bad guy — the tool’s website claims “in many cases, false positives have been reduced from 30 to 15 percent.”
In addition to those individuals on the blacklist, the database also boasts that for each person listed, they also include their immediate relatives and associates.
And this is handy — the database’s “Early Warning System” includes persons who are “pre-conviction.” In other words, people who have not been found guilty of any crime.
World-Check claims to be an impartial resource. However, critics argue this claim is at odds with its “terrorism” designation, in which profiles are accompanied by a logo of a red balaclava. Each terrorism profile includes a list of the sources of information used by World-Check when compiling the profile — some have been created solely from allegations written on conservative blogs, Islamophobic websites and political organizations.
So what does this mean to you?
Like the ever-growing number of lists compiled since 9/11, such as the No-Fly, you will never really know if you are included, or, if you are included, based on what information. You will never have a chance to examine and rebut the evidence. You will be subject to a 30-15 percent “false positives” rate. You will be targeted if you are immediate family member or associate of someone on the list.
You will be denied a bank account, turned down for a job or refused legal representation because your name is on this list. It is very possible complaining about the list will get you added to the list.
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
Helen Marshall said...
1The Matrix is here.
02/5/16 10:44 AM | Comment Link
Bruce said...
2NixOn the enemies’ list!
02/5/16 11:09 AM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
3I think Philip Dick might be wincing from wherever. “How was I to know they ALL wanted to be pre cogs?”
02/5/16 1:14 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4“Registered in London, World-Check was originally founded in 2000 by David Leppan to address the risk mitigation requirements of the Swiss banking community.”
The same banking community that launders most of the drug money in the world.
02/5/16 3:34 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5The World Check bounced:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/business/dealbook/swiss-prosecutors-end-hsbc-inquiry-without-filing-charges.html?_r=0
02/5/16 3:42 PM | Comment Link
Links 5/2/2016: Wine 1.9.3, Slackware 14.2 Beta 2 | Techrights said...
6[…] New Terrorism Blacklist Wields Power Over Millions of Lives […]
02/5/16 5:29 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
7Rich- “Organizational deficiencies”? Damn! Those crooks on both sides of the law can get linguistically inventive.
02/5/16 5:38 PM | Comment Link
New Terrorism Blacklist Wields Power Over Millions of Lives | Planet Free Will said...
8[…] By: Peter Van Buren | We Meant Well […]
02/6/16 5:31 AM | Comment Link
bloodypitchfork said...
9Well…how odd. The ACLU just wrote about it too..
https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/privatization-terrorism-blacklists-will-damage-innocent-lives
Stalin and Hitler must be smiling, notwithstanding Joseph McCarthy.
Ya know, there must be a special place in hell for bastards who ruin and kill innocent people by virtue of putting them on a list. But I’m sure they’re on a list too. And I’m also sure that list is growing by the fucking day.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Master-List-Uncovered-Hell-bound/dp/1440156093
🙂
02/6/16 12:53 PM | Comment Link
Nic108 said...
10Love ya, “Pitch”. There’s no doubt in my mind that many of the mass murdering sociopaths in our corporate owned government will end up in the hellish realms of the afterlife. That Amazon book by a fundie pastor isn’t helpful, tho. Like most fundie faux Xtians, he ignores the teachings of the Man he claims to revere and claims there are only two destinations in the afterlife. “In my father’s house, there are many mansions.” The Nazarine
02/9/16 2:43 AM | Comment Link