Woooosh
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Citizens' U.S. Border Crossings Tracked
Citizens' U.S. Border Crossings Tracked
Data From Checkpoints To Be Kept for 15 Years
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 20, 2008; A01
The federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting
information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence
investigations.
Officials say the Border Crossing Information system, disclosed last month by the Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice, is
part of a broader effort to guard against terrorist threats. It also reflects the growing number of government systems containing personal information
on Americans that can be shared for a broad range of law enforcement and intelligence purposes, some of which are exempt from some Privacy Act
protections.
While international air passenger data has long been captured this way, Customs and Border Protection agents only this year began to log the arrivals
of all U.S. citizens across land borders, through which about three-quarters of border entries occur.
The volume of people entering the country by land prevented compiling such a database until recently. But the advent of machine-readable
identification documents, which the government mandates eventually for everyone crossing the border, has made gathering the information more feasible.
By June, all travelers crossing land borders will need to present a machine-readable document, such as a passport or a driver's license with a radio
frequency identification chip.
In January, border agents began manually entering into the database the personal information of travelers who did not have such documents.
The disclosure of the database is among a series of notices, officials say, to make DHS's data gathering more transparent. Critics say the moves
exemplify efforts by the Bush administration in its final months to cement an unprecedented expansion of data gathering for national security and
intelligence purposes.
The data could be used beyond determining whether a person may enter the United States. For instance, information may be shared with foreign agencies
when relevant to their hiring or contracting decisions.
Public comments are being taken until Monday, when the "new system of records will be effective," the notice states.
"People expect to be checked when they enter the country and for the government to determine if they're admissible or not," said Greg Nojeim, senior
counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology. "What they don't expect is for the government to keep a record for 15 years of their comings
into the country."
But DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said the retention period is justified.
"History has shown, whether you are talking about criminal or terrorist activity, that plotting, planning or even relationships among conspirators can
go on for years," he said. "Basic travel records can, quite literally, help frontline officers to connect the dots."
The government states in its notice that the system was authorized by post-Sept. 11 laws, including the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act
of 2002, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
Nojeim said that though the statutes authorize the government to issue travel documents and check immigration status, he does not believe they
explicitly authorize creation of the database.
"This database is, in a sense, worse than a watch list," he said. "At least in the watch-list scenario, there's some reason why the name got on the
list. Here, the only thing a person does to come to the attention of DHS is to lawfully cross the border. The theory of this data collection is: Track
everyone -- just in case."
Under the system, officials record name, birth date, gender, date and time of crossing, and a photo, where available, for U.S. travelers returning to
the country by land, sea or air. The same information is gathered about foreign travelers, but it is held for 75 years.
DHS and other agencies are amassing more and more data that they subject to sophisticated analysis. A customs document issued last month stated that
the agency does not perform data mining on border crossings to glean relationships and patterns that could signify a terrorist or law enforcement
threat. But the Federal Register notice states that information may be shared with federal, state and local governments to test "new technology and
systems designed to enhance border security or identify other violations of law." And the Homeland Security Act establishing the department calls for
the development of data-mining tools to further the department's objectives.
That raises concerns, privacy advocates say, that analyses can be undertaken that could implicate innocent people if appropriate safeguards are not
used.
The border information system will link to a new database, the Non-Federal Entity Data System, which is being set up to hold personal information
about all drivers in a state's database. States that do not agree to allow customs to have such large amounts of information may allow the agency to
query their databases in real time for information on a traveler.
Because of privacy concerns, Washington state earlier this year opted for the queries-only approach. The Canadian government made the same decision.
"There was absolutely no way they should have the entire database," said Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's privacy commissioner, who learned about the Canadian
government's decision in April.
"Once you have data in a database you don't need, it lends itself to unauthorized use," she said. "You have no idea of the data creep."
Vermont opted to allow access to its driver's licenses because the state could not guarantee the "nanoseconds" response time DHS required, said Bonnie
L. Rutledge, the state's commissioner of motor vehicles. She said drivers are informed up front of the data sharing.
"A person opts to go over the border, their information is going to be collected and held anyway," she said. "If you don't want to go over the border,
you don't have to."
The notice states that the government may share border records with federal, state, local, tribal or foreign government agencies in cases where
customs believes the information would assist enforcement of civil or criminal laws or regulations, or if the information is relevant to a hiring
decision.
They may be shared with a court or attorney in civil litigation, which could include divorce cases; with federal contractors or consultants "to
accomplish an agency function related to this system of records"; with federal and foreign intelligence or counterterrorism agencies if there is a
threat to national or international security or to assist in anti-terrorism efforts; or with the news media and the public "when there exists a
legitimate public interest in the disclosure of the information."
Homeland Security is proposing to exempt the database from some provisions of the 1974 Privacy Act, including the right of a citizen to know whether a
law enforcement or intelligence agency has requested his or her records and the right to sue for access and correction in those disclosures.
A traveler may, however, request access to records based on documents he or she presented at the border.
The notice is posted at the Government Printing Office's Web site.
==================
I knew they take a photo of your plate when they funnel you into the concrete lanes as you leave the country- I always wondered what they did with it.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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woody with a view
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nuthing to hide here....
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Sharksbaja
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Not even your spelling?
We have a saint amongst us!
Would you mind if some company in some other country you did biz with has access to your private info. Where would it go from there?
The whole thing reeks because we all know how "shared" databases are hacked or abused.
It has nada to do with being a good citizen.
[Edited on 8-20-2008 by Sharksbaja]
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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palmeto99
Banned
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People with nothing to hide and who are not criminals have nothing to fear. Listen to my phone calls as well because I have nothing to hide.
It will be a boring task for some poor agent .
The advice I am about to give you is worth what you are paying for it.
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Udo
Elite Nomad
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Good thing I didn't use my passport for the trip to Cuba!
Talk about something to hide.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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lizard lips
Super Nomad
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Same here Udo--- We have a lot to talk about... I had permission from the State Dept. and I wanted them to stamp it but I didn't want the officials in
Cuba to know why I was there.
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palmeto99
Banned
Posts: 292
Registered: 7-15-2008
Location: loreto,BCS and East Coast USA (Spartanburg, SC)
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Mood: Trying to bring the worlds people together one post at a time.
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lizard lips
Same here Udo--- We have a lot to talk about... I had permission from the State Dept. and I wanted them to stamp it but I didn't want the officials in
Cuba to know why I was there. |
And why did you go.?
The advice I am about to give you is worth what you are paying for it.
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MrBillM
Platinum Nomad
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News for the Clueless (and Paranoid)
I "Assumed" from Day One (a LONG while back) when they installed computer terminals that they were entering and tracking border entries. It never
caused a moment of worry or any lost sleep.
Still doesn't.
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BajaBruno
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Our border guards have been recording and storing licence plate numbers of border crossers since about the late sixties. This, of course, is a
significant step upward from that rather primitive exercise.
I can easily imagine that if a saint unwittingly crossed the border just ahead of the next data entry, which happened to be a drug smuggler; and then,
six months later the same coincidence happened again, a data mining program could make a connection. With a little more misinformation gleaned from
other faulty database coincidences, some hotdog would compose a search warrant and be kicking down your door.
"Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government." --
Daniel Webster
Christopher Bruno, Elk Grove, CA.
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lizard lips
Super Nomad
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There was an American that got stabbed to death and had a 7 million life policy that I had to investigate. I went into the American services
department on several occasions that was in the Swiss Embassy.I went with the American representative to the morgue and was followed by Cuban
investigators everywhere I went from then on. I had my room searched and the security box gone through. The American representative showed me the apt.
building which was located in a high rise where they had cameras on the front of the Swiss Embassy to check everyone coming and going.
I was sitting in the lobby of a hotel having a cigar and a drink and had a guy, trying not to be noticed, taking photos of me and the British friend
of the guy who was murdered.
When I was checking in with immigration prior to my flight to Monterrey I thought for sure I would be questioned but they just let me go. They knew
why I was there and they had me under surveillance every day. I really enjoyed my time there and didn't mind them following me but I lied and said I
was a tourist when I initially entered the country. They could have messed with me if they wanted to.
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MrBillM
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21656
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Out and About
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Mood: It's a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Day
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Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.
After thinking it over, it's probably true that those who are worried about Big Uncle tracking them have valid reason for concern.
THEY are likely doing something that we should be worried about and the sooner the Government catches up with them, the better off the rest of us who
don't fear searches or checks are going to be.
Given the high number of border crossings I've made, the odds "should" be that I would have at least visited U.S. Secondary ONCE in the past Ten years
or so, but I haven't. So much for Paranoia.
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MrBillM
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21656
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Out and About
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No FEAR !
I have nothing to FEAR from the Border Crossings. PERIOD.
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ILikeMex
Nomad
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Registered: 2-22-2008
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Mood: Whishing I was there
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Ben Franklin "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security"
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