They should try and track illegal immigrants' and terrorists' border
crossings first. So far, they seem to have been a complete failure at this.
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always
correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Wed, 8/20/08, Scott Munson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Scott Munson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [cia-drugs] US Citizens US Border Crossings Tracked
To:
Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 8:44 AM
US Citizens' U.S. Border Crossings Trackedearthfirstalert-
subscribe@ yahoogroups. comhttp://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/
article/2008/ 08/19/AR20080819 02811.html<http://www.washingt onpost.com/
wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/ 08/19/AR20080819 02811.html>
"Border Crossing Information system, disclosed last month by the
Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice...
"Public comments are being taken until Monday..."
- - - -
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
http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/ 08/19/AR20080819
02811.html
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.
