Germany’s government was offered to buy records of the Swiss subsidiary of the British HSBC.

These records, which were offered for 2.5 million EUR,  contain data about German citizens who have placed money in Switzerland to avoid taxes.

The database was definitely illegally acquired, supposedly offered by a former IT specialist with HSBC who now lives anonymously in southern France and whose identity is being withheld by French authorities.

France, to which similar data has been offered in the past, denies Switzerland’s request to give up the suspect for prosecution.

Of course withholding taxes is a crime, yet the ethical indifference whether a Government should buy stolen data to profit from it, thus encouraging cyber terrorism is more than worth a thorough discussion.

Related posts:

1. Obama’s secret evacuation routes show up on file sharing sites