Everyone is all a flutter over the news last week that the United States Government has been tracking international financial transactions. Canada's Privacy Commissioner has now joined in:

Canada's privacy commissioner is considering whether to launch an investigation into allegations that U.S. intelligence and financial authorities may have been illegally monitoring the banking transactions of some Canadians. "Obviously this is something we can't ignore. We are looking into the matter, though the extent to which we get involved has yet to be determined," Anne-Marie Hayden, a spokesperson for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, wrote in an e-mail. She also wrote: "Any time personal information of Canadians is obtained by a foreign government in circumstances that may not provide the same privacy protections that exist in Canada, we have concerns."

Yet Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge knew in 2002. And I sort of knew something was up about the same time as the rules changed for everyone for reporting financial transactions under a Government of Canada program called Fintrac under which, for example, all cash deposits of over $10,000 had to be reported to someone. In my old job this was not an unknown event as auslanders - some even from beyond Canada - were all over buying cottage property and sometimes showed up with a bank roll.

But one assumed all those reportings were reported and someone somewhere was watching. Why else do it? And given the nature of things - why wouldn't you do it?