ISO 20022 Is HERE—and It’s Watching You: How America’s New Financial ‘Language’ Spells the End of Privacy

EDITOR'S NOTES

They told us it was about efficiency. They told us it was just a new format. But what they didn’t tell you is that ISO 20022 is a global surveillance trojan horse—weaponized to track your payments, store your identity, and funnel your personal data straight into the hands of banks, Big Tech, and global bureaucrats.

FedNow, Fedwire, CHIPS—they’re all in on it. And the mainstream media? Silent. They want you distracted with celebrity gossip while your digital life is sold off piece by piece. This isn’t about progress. It’s about control.

Sam Clemons Oct 31, 25

WHAT IS ISO 20022 REALLY?

Let’s cut through the technocratic mumbo jumbo.

ISO 20022 (not “ISO 222” as it’s often mistyped) is a new global standard for financial messages. Banks, processors, and payment apps are using it to send richer, more detailed info every time money moves. And it’s not just amounts or account numbers anymore—it’s your name, address, date of birth, and even personal notes flying through the wires.

Why does this matter? Because that data sticks. And the more you send, the more they store. And guess who’s watching?

SURVEILLANCE DISGUISED AS ‘EFFICIENCY’

Since July 14, 2025, ISO 20022 has gone fully live on Fedwire, the same system used by your bank for large transfers. FedNow, the instant payment system designed to replace cash, was built on ISO 20022 from day one. And CHIPS, the interbank payment system, switched over last year.

Translation? Every major U.S. payment rail is now ISO 20022-compliant—which means you’re already in the system whether you like it or not.

7 WAYS ISO 20022 DESTROYS YOUR FINANCIAL PRIVACY

⚠️ 1) Your Data’s In Motion—and It’s Everywhere

Your payments now carry more than dollars. They carry your identity: birthdate, home address, even employer details. That info doesn’t stay with your bank—it’s passed from system to system, often across international borders. Every hop increases risk.

Bigger data = bigger target. And hackers, bureaucrats, and marketing firms are circling.

⚠️ 2) Global Payments = Global Surveillance

Because ISO 20022 is global by design, your payment data may land on foreign servers governed by European privacy laws (like GDPR), or worse—Chinese or corporate data centers with no accountability.

You’ll never know where your data ends up. But they will.

⚠️ 3) More Data = More Sanctions Flags = More Freezes

More fields = more “screening.” If your name or address sounds kinda like someone on a government blacklist, your account can get frozen, investigated, or flagged—even if you're 100% innocent.

That’s not banking. That’s pre-crime.

⚠️ 4) Lost in Translation = More Exposure

Old payment formats still coexist, which means your structured data gets “translated” between systems. Poorly. Data can break, get misread, or be re-entered manually.

Each failure means another pair of eyes on your private life.

⚠️ 5) Remittance Notes Now Spill Your Secrets

Ever sent a payment with a note like “for July rent” or “thanks for dinner”? Now that note can carry emails, phone numbers, private memos—and it gets stored, scanned, and shared.

ISO 20022 doesn’t forget. Ever.

⚠️ 6) FedNow + ISO = Instant Mistakes, Permanent Damage

Instant payments = zero rollback. Hit send with a typo, or include private info by mistake? Too bad. It’s gone—forever.

Welcome to the age of irrevocable exposure.

⚠️ 7) Your Data Lives Longer Than You Do

With structured data now a goldmine for analytics, marketing, and compliance, most banks will keep it forever. Multiple systems. Multiple vendors. No clear limits.

It’s not just about privacy anymore. It’s about ownership of your life’s information.

BUT SAM, IS IT A LAW?

No. ISO 20022 is not a law. It’s worse—it’s an industry standard, which means it slides in under the radar. It wasn’t debated. You didn’t vote on it. It’s just happening. Right now. Under your nose.

And while it doesn’t give the government new powers directly, it gives them something better: better data. Structured, sortable, and subpoena-ready. All served on a silver platter.

HOW TO FIGHT BACK (BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE)

✅ Ask your bank what data they’re sending. Push back.

✅ Strip remittance notes of personal info. Keep it tight.

✅ Use invoice IDs, not names. Don’t help them build your profile.

✅ For cross-border wires, demand to know where your data’s stored.

✅ Triple-check FedNow payments. One mistake is forever.

AMERICA, YOU’RE BEING TRACKED

ISO 20022 is not progress. It’s a control grid. It’s how the banking elites, hand-in-hand with unelected bureaucrats, are building the infrastructure of financial surveillance—without your consent.

They want to eliminate cash. They want to normalize real-time data sharing. They want every payment, every transaction, every dollar to be tagged, tracked, and taxed.

And they’re doing it behind your back.