While Congress continues to debate the National Security Agency's program of warrantless wiretapping, another form of government scrutiny has largely escaped public notice. A growing number of private companies are screening potential customers against a government watch-list of suspected terrorists.
Plus U.S. charities are required by the Treasury Department to check the OFAC list before giving aid.
Businesses encounter steep costs from adopting screening programs. Worse, charities are encumbered in their ability to help those in need. Imagine the Red Cross telling a tsunami-ravaged villager in Indonesia that before she can get a blanket, she must provide her name, date of birth and place of birth, and then wait three days to be cleared of being a terrorist.
The problem is compounded by the mistakes in the list itself. According to a report by the Sept. 11 Commission staff, OFAC listed several individuals whom it later removed. Two Somali-Americans endured 10 months of economic deprivation and public stigma before being removed from the OFAC list.
[Excerpt of an article by Shirin Sinnar, The San Jose Mercury News]
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