Flutterby™! : Oklahoma seizing your card data

Holy crap: Oooooklahoma! Where the cops can stop and empty your bank cards – on just a hunch: Civil asset forfeiture goes digital and politicians wake up

The reader can record data from any magstripe card – even down to hotel keys – and works with Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, as well as Best Buy, Costco, Macy's and Walmart gift cards. Any funds found can be frozen or transferred directly to a law enforcement bank account "to protect the integrity of the evidence and ensure the funds are available for trial or forfeiture," ERAD's advertising states.

The state police are paying ERAD $5,000 and 7.7 per cent of all funds seized. Highway Patrol Lt John Vincent told KWTV that the main purpose of the readers is to catch identity thieves and money launderers.

Yeah, so if you piss off a cop in Oklahoma, they can drain your bank account and leave you without the resources to mount a defense. Civil asset forfeiture needs to stop. Hard.