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A Peek At DHS's Files On You

Posted by kdawson on from the fifteen-year-retention dept.

kenblakely writes "We've known for a while that the Department of Homeland Security was collecting travel records on those who cross US borders, but now you can see it for yourself. A Freedom of Information Act request got this blogger a look at DHS's file on his travels. Pretty comprehensive — all the way down to the IP address of the host he used to make a reservation."

2 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Should have used the Privacy Act, not FOIA by karl.auerbach · · Score: 5, Informative

    The person made his request under FOIA. That was not the best vehicle for this.

    A much better law to use to get information about yourself is the Privacy Act.

    The two laws have confusingly similar numbers: 5 USC 552 for FOIA and 5 USC 552a for the Privacy Act.

    The Privacy Act is a much bigger hammer for getting information about yourself. Agencies have many fewer excuses and the deadlines are far shorter. And agencies generally can't make you pay for you to get their information about you.

    Yes, the Privacy Act has many loopholes, but they are much fewer than those in FOIA.

    So, if people are going to do this they should make sure that they make their request under the Privacy Act. They can still use FOIA, but they should do so under a separate cover because the agencies will intentionally conflate the two laws so that they can avoid fully complying with either.

    See: http://www.cavebear.com/archive/nsf-dns/laws.htm

  2. Re:Who can request that? by againjj · · Score: 4, Informative

    Access to records are ruled by the Freedom of Information Act. For non-personal information requests, you need give your name, address, daytime telephone number, information on the records you are looking for, and an agreement on amount of fees you are willing to pay. For personal information, you also need a bunch of info on the person (subject), a notarized signature or Under Penalty of Perjury Statement (see third link), and a statement authorizing you to receive the subject's personal information (assuming you are not the subject).

    Sources:
    http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_pia_cbp_ats.pdf (section 7.1)
    http://www.state.gov/m/a/ips/
    http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/103067.pdf