What's your terrorism quotient? U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents will know with a newly announced Automated Targeting System, a data mining system which will use the Treasury's watch list (.pdf), data provided to it by the airlines, your I-94 form and other data sources to compute your terrorism risk when you cross the border.
The data – which includes all the information you give to an airline such as medical conditions, frequent flier number, special meal requests, home and email addresses, payment information and your travel agent's names – will be held for up to 40 years. The data can be shared with any government agency or local law enforcement agency for civil or criminal matters, and can even be shared with foreign governments as data to test other data-mining programs, even ones not related to border security.
What happens if you have a name that's similar to a suspected terrorist or drug smuggler.? Conceivably, you could have your car torn apart every time you drive to Canada or have a blue-gloved agent checking your anus for dope every time you go to Cancun.
But surely, you'll be able to remedy such mistakes using the Privacy Act, which prevents secret databases? Actually, no.
From the Federal Register notice:
I wonder if Customs and Border Patrol will rename their "Know Before You Go" page "Know Before You Go That We Know and You Can't".
Ars Technica's Nate Anderson and EFF's David Sobel have more.
Hat Tip: JQP
