FRANKFORT, KY – Attorney General Russell Coleman joined a 23-state coalition opposing a new federal government program to gather and track personal information on every American's investments and savings.
The attorneys general are rallying against the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Consolidated Audit Trail—a centralized database tracking and collecting personal information on every trade made by every investor in the country. Under the unlawful rule, any person with money in the stock market is subject to constant government surveillance of their financial actions—regardless of suspicion or wrongdoing.
"This just doesn't make good common sense. Kentuckians' sensitive information, such as addresses and birth years, would be stuffed into one massive government-run database – housed at an agency already targeted by hackers – without any legitimate or demonstrated need," said General Coleman.
The dangers cannot be understated. The financial information could provide a window into Americans' values and beliefs. Ideologically driven government officials could weaponize the information against those they disagree with and threaten everyday Kentuckians' savings and financial future.
Massive repositories of personal information are also tempting targets for hackers and foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party. The SEC's own history of high-profile data security failures does not inspire confidence that it can keep this information secure.
Attorney General Coleman joined the Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin-led effort alongside Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
View the amicus brief, filled in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, here.
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