It was sort of under the table, not done via regular, publicly visible means. It's prone to abuse. Asset freezing usually (always?) comes from a court order, which is generally done in public, with arguments from both sides.
Often it is not. Funds are frozen without any due process whatsoever, or even giving the account holder a specific reason. I know of instances where tax authorities have simply seized accounts on their own authority without sanction from a count. I know of instances where real estate has been seized on the mere suspicion of Marijuana growing. Yes, due process is available to remedy such wrongs... by suing in court for relief. Good luck with that if you have no liquid funds to hire a lawyer. And your bank is foreclosing because you can't pay the mortgage.
More and more, KYC means asking permission to spend your own money. Putting all payment processing into the hands of a few middlemen is a dangerous concentration of power.
It's sad that we make retailers eat a 3% gross tax on transactions in exchange for bullshit rewards. In the end merchants just bill the costs right back to us anyway. Individually we feel like we're doing well. We get flights or 1% cash back. In reality we're buying these things for ourselves and we're overpaying.
Comments
It was sort of under the table, not done via regular, publicly visible means. It's prone to abuse. Asset freezing usually (always?) comes from a court order, which is generally done in public, with arguments from both sides.
Often it is not. Funds are frozen without any due process whatsoever, or even giving the account holder a specific reason. I know of instances where tax authorities have simply seized accounts on their own authority without sanction from a count. I know of instances where real estate has been seized on the mere suspicion of Marijuana growing. Yes, due process is available to remedy such wrongs... by suing in court for relief. Good luck with that if you have no liquid funds to hire a lawyer. And your bank is foreclosing because you can't pay the mortgage.
More and more, KYC means asking permission to spend your own money. Putting all payment processing into the hands of a few middlemen is a dangerous concentration of power.
It's sad that we make retailers eat a 3% gross tax on transactions in exchange for bullshit rewards. In the end merchants just bill the costs right back to us anyway. Individually we feel like we're doing well. We get flights or 1% cash back. In reality we're buying these things for ourselves and we're overpaying.