# Understanding the STIFLE Act of 2023

This bill asks the Treasury Department to study how criminals and bad actors use technology to hide their real location when conducting financial transactions online. The concern is that people trying to evade U.S. sanctions, launder money, or break other financial laws are using tools like VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and proxy servers to make it appear they're in a different location than they actually are, making it harder for financial companies and the government to catch them.

Right now, most financial technology platforms—like payment apps, cryptocurrency exchanges, and online banking services—rely heavily on IP addresses (the numerical identifier assigned to your internet connection) to figure out where you are. The problem is that IP addresses are outdated technology from the 1980s and can be easily manipulated. Someone in Russia could make it look like they're logging in from New York, or someone under U.S. sanctions could hide their true location to access financial services they shouldn't be able to use. This creates a national security risk because it makes it easier for bad actors to evade the financial penalties the U.S. imposes on hostile countries and terrorist organizations.

The bill doesn't actually change any laws or impose new requirements on financial companies. Instead, it simply directs the Treasury Department to spend the next year studying this problem in detail. They need to figure out how easy it is for criminals to fool location-detection systems, whether financial companies could use better technology (like combining GPS data, cell tower information, and other sources) to catch these tricks, and what it would cost to upgrade these systems. Within a year, Treasury has to report back to Congress with their findings and recommendations about whether financial technology companies should be required to use more sophisticated location-tracking methods.

STIFLE Act of 2023

Nunn, Zachary

Stop Terrorism and Illicit Finance Location Exploitation Act of 2023 or the STIFLE Act of 2023This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to report on the role location obfuscation technology (IP address manipulation that includes the use of virtual private networks [VPNs] and proxy servers) plays in U.S. sanctions evasions, money laundering, and other illicit finance activity. Treasury must also assess the degree to which a financial technology platform relies upon a user’s IP address to indicate a user’s location and a platform’s ability to use aggregated location data to indicate a user’s location in the event one or more data points have been manipulated. The report must also contain an analysis of techniques to reduce evasion of U.S. sanctions and money laundering laws and regulations.