Final Word from Thursday, February 19, 2026

The goal of the CIA, as Edward Snowden pointed out six years ago, is to "try to collect everything and hang on to it forever." The EET 2.0 online sales-reporting system unveiled yesterday by Finance Min. Alena Schillerová could help the CIA pursue its mission. Chief Economist Petr Dufek of Creditas told HN that EET has a huge information value for the state because everything that's happening in the economy will be visible. Without waiting for the Statistical Office, he said, it will be possible to discern in an aggregate way if household spending is changing and if the economy is in decline. The Babiš government is eagerly creating similar pots of data gold everywhere it turns - in healthcare, transportation, construction, public administration and perhaps even on social networks if people are required to have a digital ID to be on Facebook. The cabinet's policy statement talks repeatedly about sovereignty in various forms, but digital sovereignty is an illusion if the world powers can tap into our systems and shut us down wherever they want. The sovereign approach would be to have not only a digital strategy, but also a fully nondigital one as a backup. [ Czech Republic intelligence agency agencies Permanent Record Banka ANO Andrej ]