Your details could be logged at the till
By Justin Vallejo
November 29, 2006 12:00am

EVERYDAY transactions such as buying a store gift card or playing
pokies could lead to your details being recorded on a government
database under a crackdown on money laundering and terrorism.

Top law firms, privacy groups and shopping giant Westfield fear 
low-risk and low-value items such as gift cards, phone cards and 
toll road passes could be subject to the Anti-Money Laundering 
and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill, which was passed in the 
House of Representatives last night.

Submission documents tendered to a Senate inquiry, obtained by The
Daily Telegraph, show the Bill could affect every aspect of our lives.

Law firm Freehills said the Bill requires financial agencies, gaming
organisations, pawnbrokers, bookmakers, jewellers, lawyers,
accountants, real estate agents and any operator handling thousands 
of dollars in cash to make "risk assessments" of clients.

If there is even a slight suspicion of money laundering or terrorism
funding, operators must report details of a client's income and assets
to the Federal Government's AUSTRAC database.

Moreover, 2700 people - more than half from the Australian Tax Office 
- are authorised for online access to the database.

Westfield's lawyers, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, told the inquiry that
under the Bill, gift cards could be classified as "debit cards" and
subject to the same scrutiny unless the Bill is amended.

"It would become a criminal offence under Section 139 to issue gift
cards on an anonymous basis," Westfield's submission said.

[...]

"As stored-valued cards gradually replace cash, the anonymity of low-
value cash transactions could become a thing of the past - no doubt a
welcome prospect for the tax authorities," he said.

Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis told the inquiry there were concerns
over the 2700 people authorised to access the AUSTRAC database, with
more than half from the ATO. "Information collected for the purpose of
enforcing serious crime, such as terrorism, should generally only be
used for such purposes."

[...]

Full article at "News"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20840016-421,00.html

Cheers, Steve..

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