Below is an official statement from Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis regarding federal government activities involving the acquisition of personal transactions.
Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis is warning Floridians to beware of the federal government’s activities of acquiring personal transactions of consumers’ information from financial institutions. This comes as recent reports state federal agencies are asking financial institutions, like banks, credit card companies and cash-apps to search and flag Americans’ transactions if they used terms like “MAGA” or “Trump” or if they made certain purchases at retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s, or Bass Pro Shops.
CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “It’s sad, but you don’t have to be on a federal terrorist watch list for the federal government to use its tentacles to get into your personal business. We’ve got Americans practicing constitutionally protected activities – and the federal government is sending marching orders to our banks, our credit card companies, and cash-apps on how to profile certain Americans based on whether they like Donald Trump, guns or the Bible. You can’t make this stuff up. Law abiding citizens shouldn’t have to worry about the federal government collecting data on them, but it appears that’s the case. Since Washington is so broken, it’s up to the states to figure out ways to protect our citizens. It’s not right and we’re actively engaging financial institutions and the Legislature on what can be done to protect Floridians. Moreover, we encourage the financial sector to work alongside us in protecting user information and not hide behind the federal government. This will create distrust and resentment among the public, none of which is good for our state or nation. So, I am encouraging consumers to engage their financial institutions and let them know you don’t appreciate your personal information being shipped off to Washington without your knowledge.”
Last week, the CFO announced that he is working with the Legislature to help rein in the federal government’s overreach into the personal transactions of Floridians.
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