Sifting SWIFT Data For Terrorists

Not content on trampling on democracy at home, the US counterterrorism campaign has extended the trampling of democracy worldwide. It appears that there is little foreign governments are willing to do to question US practices on their territory. The latest comes from the US analysis of SWIFT data -- international electronic interbank funds transfer -- to look for trends that may point to terrorism funding. Apparently, the US asked for, and was granted access to SWIFT data by the Belgium-based organization.

Now I have no problems with the US sifting through SWIFT data to gleam intelligence on terrorism funding. What I have problem with however, is data belonging to businesses, some of which are outside US jurisdiction, being handed over to the US government. For starters, who says the US has to; should; or will; limit its use of the data to just find terrorists? Isn't there some economic advantage to understanding at such a granular level, who's sending money to whom? I see no need for ever trusting the US government. They do not have the world's interest at heart as they have repeatedly demonstrated. Hell, they don't even have their own citizens interest at heart.