Responsible Data Use Promotes National Security

Combats organized crime. Institutions of all kinds depend on data to identify and stop money laundering, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, illegal gambling, and other forms of organized crime.
Fights terrorism. Screening tools use data to identify individuals or criminal networks attempting to move funds for terrorism and other illicit activities that threaten national security.
Enables legal compliance. Federal laws require businesses to verify customer identities, assess customer risk, monitor transactions for suspicious activity, and implement safeguards against criminal activity. Without accurate and reliable data, businesses would face significant challenges in meeting statutory know-your-customer (“KYC”) requirements to root out malicious actors, including from foreign adversary nations.
Protects system stability. Governments and financial institutions rely on data to detect emerging threats early and prevent systemic risks to markets and national security.

Terrorism financing and money laundering flourish. Without data, screening becomes harder. Terrorist networks and other criminal enterprises would find it easier to exploit systemic gaps to move illicit funds through the financial system undetected.
Public safety risks rise. Weak financial-crime controls heighten national security threats and undermine the stability of institutions. Without data, key controls and other safeguards become slower, less precise, and less effective.
Operational burdens grow. Without access to efficient data-driven tools, businesses would need to rely on manual, high-cost verification processes, slowing operations and increasing administrative workloads.
Legal non-compliance increases. Without access to data, organizations may be unable to meet KYC requirements, exposing consumers, the U.S. economy, and our country’s national security to greater risk from malicious foreign actors.