WASHINGTON – 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 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 late 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 Privacy Act protections.
While international air passenger data have 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, where about three-quarters of border crossings occur.
The volume of people entering the country by land had prevented compiling such a database until recently. But the advent of machine-readable identification documents, which the government now mandates 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 driver's license with a radio frequency identification chip or a passport.
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 Homeland Security'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 database is scheduled to take effect.
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.
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 instead allow the agency to query their databases in real time for information on a traveler.
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.
