Given the absence of a clear separation or well-defined distinctions between these “systems” within DHS – as is made clear by the succession of redefined SORNs which DHS claims cover the “same” records - greater transparency would be provided by recognizing that these are all parts of a single system of “Travel Records”, and allowing individuals to obtain all such records held by all DHS components with a single request. This SORN will make it more difficult to exercise that right, since to obtain the records of their travels held by DHS an individual will now need to request records from even more systems of records: at a minimum, TECS, ATS, APIS, and now also BCI. Under the Privacy Act, “transparency” is provided by the right to obtain records about oneself. But as we point out in our comments, it’s really a “shell game” that willl do more to hide these records than to faciliate transparency: Why has the DHS created this new BCI label for portions of its files of travel histories? The DHS claims they are “providing additional transparency”. Rather than trying again, as they did with the ATS SORN, to provide retroactive notice and yet more new excuses for this illegal travel surveillance dragnet and system of “historical” travel records about the activities of innocent Americans, DHS should entirely expunge these illegal records of lawful activities protected by the First Amendment and international human rights treaties.
This section of the Privacy Act restricts the collection or retention of records of the exercise of rights protected by the First Amendment…. As when such data was considered a part of ATS, collection and retention of travel history data in BCI is prohibited by 5 U.S.C. Changes to the name of the system of records containing this data neither make it legal nor address our prior comments regarding its illegality. The collection and retention of this data was and is illegal…. The data now being relabeled as BCI is part of the same data that was previously labeled as ATS.
We’ve objected to ATS as illegal, and demanded that these dossiers be destroyed.
The DHS previously considered the logs now being labeled “BCI” to be part of the ATS system of records. citizens across land borders.īut we know that’s not true, because we’ve seen copies - provided by CBP itself in response to individual requests for records from its Automated Targeting System (ATS) - of records of routine land border crossings by innocent U.S. According to a story last week in the Washington Post,Ĭustoms and Border Protection agents only this year began to log the arrivals of all U.S. citizens not suspected of any crime would be kept for 15 years, while records on foreign vistors would be kept for 75 years.ĭHS has, apparently, told the press that they didn’t start keeping records of land border crossings by innocent U.S. “Border Crossing Information” (BCI) about innocent U.S. borders, including those who cross by car or on foot. Today we filed comments with the Department of Homeland Security objecting to a newly-defined DHS “system of records” containing logs of everyone who crosses U.S.
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