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What the DHS Knows About You

Posted by kdawson on from the shirt-size-and-toothbrush-color dept.

Sherri Davidoff writes "Here's a real copy of an American citizen's DHS Travel Record, retrieved from the US Customs and Border Patrol's Automated Targeting System and obtained through a FOIA/Privacy Act request. The document reveals that the DHS is storing: the traveler's credit card number and expiration; IP addresses used to make Web travel reservations; hotel information and itinerary; full airline itinerary including flight numbers and seat numbers; phone numbers including business, home, and cell; and every frequent flyer and hotel number associated with the traveler, even ones not used for the specific reservation."

47 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. What??? by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

    What?? No shoe size? What's the point of taking off your shoes at the checkpoint then?

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  2. Reminds me... by matt4077 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This reminds me of the current idea to charge a 10$ entrance fee for foreign visitors. The money is supposed to go into a marketing fund. It's not only borderline schizophrenic to raise a new barrier in order to promote it, it might be even more sinister: that fee can apparently only be paid by credit card. Since 10$ doesn't seem to be enough money to be worth collecting, I'm wondering if getting all the credit card data isn't the real goal.

    Or maybe the US wants to finally catch up with the third world in unfriendliness.

    --
    Fleur de Sel
    1. Re:Reminds me... by Cow+Jones · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, I liked travelling to the US better when all I had to do was check the correct boxes on the amusing green form:

      [x] I am not a terrorist
      [x] I am not planning a child abduction in the US

      --

      Ah, arrogance and stupidity, all in the same package. How efficient of you. -- Londo Mollari
    2. Re:Reminds me... by LLKrisJ · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well just so you know, I live in Belgium and if I want to get my paperwork to travel to the US I have to CALL the US embassy (I cannot just go there, no sir, we're all terrorist here in Europe, you see) and without so much as getting a human operator to respond, like to - I don't know, ask me what the hell I want - I just have to hand over my CC number so I can be charged xx dollars, just to get them to make an appointment.

      I find that very disturbing, off putting and blatantly rude... It is not because the US can do that that it bloody should. I do not want to go to the US but sometimes the circumstances force me to, but when I do I am treated like a piece of s**t with no rights... It really makes me want to go through all the hassle of getting my visa, then canceling my card and getting a new one.

    3. Re:Reminds me... by xaxa · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yeah, I liked travelling to the US better when all I had to do was check the correct boxes on the amusing green form:

      [x] I am not a terrorist
      [x] I am not planning a child abduction in the US

      I visited the US before 9/11:

      [x] I am not a communist

    4. Re:Reminds me... by nimbius · · Score: 4, Insightful

      so we need to revise a few docs to say "bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses with cash, check, or money order for $10 us..."

      --
      Good people go to bed earlier.
    5. Re:Reminds me... by palegray.net · · Score: 4, Insightful

      then canceling my card and getting a new one

      Assuming U.S. authorities are using your credit card information to track behavioral patterns, that won't help you much if the card is issued by the same bank. Even banks in Switzerland are routinely turning over information on account holders these days.

      --
      512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
    6. Re:Reminds me... by Natales · · Score: 4, Informative

      The US already collects vasts amount of information as part of the visa application process for any foreign national, all paid by the applicant.

      Different countries pay different amounts. I wish the $10 would be the case. Chileans pay $131 just for a visitor's visa, and that doesn't even include all the expenses in getting the required paperwork.

      The US unfriendliness towards visitors you mention has been here for a long time, and it's manifested in many different ways, some subtle, some not.

    7. Re:Reminds me... by M-RES · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ya see - I always knew Bush's speech impediment would cause this sort of confusion. It's all because nobody could ever tell whether he was saying tourist or terrorist, so they decided to play it safe! ;)

    8. Re:Reminds me... by Rogerborg · · Score: 5, Funny

      Even banks in Switzerland are routinely turning over information on account holders these days.

      And that is why I only trust Nigerians to handle my financial affairs.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    9. Re:Reminds me... by TheGuapo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Check out Virtual Account Numbers - I think Citibank offers these. They are one-time use, throw away credit card numbers. I use them for virtually all online purchase along with purchases from entities I don't trust. The US Government would definitely go into that category.

    10. Re:Reminds me... by interval1066 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Don't feel alone. I'm a US Citizen and I get the rude treatment whenever I want back in. Makes kinda wonder why I want back in so badly.

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    11. Re:Reminds me... by TheTurtlesMoves · · Score: 3, Informative

      I have traveled to the 3rd world more than once. The US boarder is far worse and has been for a long time. Heres the real funny part. I was only ever on connecting flights in the US. I have never gone all the way through customs! And that still worse than entering any 3rd world country I have visited.

      --
      The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
    12. Re:Reminds me... by Blrfl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...And don't think for a minute that the issuing bank doesn't keep records of which accounts were issued to what customers and when.

    13. Re:Reminds me... by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Funny

      'do you have a mental disorder'

      Why yes, yes I do. I'm a pathological liar on questions like this one.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    14. Re:Reminds me... by jamstar7 · · Score: 3, Funny

      What, they trying to elicit a charge of perjury or something based on the answers to these questions? If so, why not ask people "Have you stopped beating your wife? [Y/N]'

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  3. Dupe by Arkaic · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hrmm. I think this was pretty much covered in this past article: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/01/06/2238228/A-Peek-At-DHSs-Files-On-You?art_pos=4 Perhaps a different person's records, but basically the same deal, from what I can see so far.

  4. Hush, citizen. by TheSpoom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Your full, unencrypted credit card information available in our logs to every DHS employee is necessary for us to fight the evil terrorists.

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs
    1. Re:Hush, citizen. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Absolutely right! You wouldn't believe the number of hookers and the amount of blow needed to keep up our morale here at DHS.

    2. Re:Hush, citizen. by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Technology has changed, therefore it's necessary for the Supreme Court to rethink some of its past decisions. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects..." should apply to ALL papers/data even if it's not in the citizen's immediate possession. The government should not be able to obtain your personal credit cards numbers from a 3rd party without first getting a warrant from a judge.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    3. Re:Hush, citizen. by zach_the_lizard · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Citizen, you have dared to question the supreme legal, moral, and constitutional authority of our anti-terrorism methods. Not only that, but you have also exposed yourself as an EVIL anti-American communist socialist fascist islamist anti-war drug doing child molesting hippy. Our officers will arrive promptly to detain you. Have a nice day, DHS

      --
      SSC
    4. Re:Hush, citizen. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      More likely, we'll get some cryptofascist who calls himself a "strict constructionist" to tell us that, if the founding fathers wouldn't have recognized it on sight, it couldn't possibly be covered by the constitution.

    5. Re:Hush, citizen. by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I could see Ben Franklin spending about 5 minutes being amazed by a laptop before taking it apart to see how it worked. If he lived today, he would be a pony-tailed uberhacker.

      --
      I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
  5. At least the probably don't know how to use it... by Timothy+Brownawell · · Score: 4, Funny

    If they have that much useless detail on everyone, chances are they won't be able to actually find anything in it. Yay for security through obscurity.

    On the other hand, someone's probably going to break in and get all those credit card numbers...

  6. Nothing special. This is a PNR by aepervius · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Look at the record detail. You can even see on what CRS it was reserved : 1A. If you reserve everything with the CRS (for example at a travel agency) then ultimately everything is linked and saved there. Then most airline do not bother filtering they just send the whole kludge to the DHS. I commented the same, and yes indeed he blacked the name out, but left the RECORD LOCATOR, which is identifying the person too, if you have access to the CRS system.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  7. Re:At least the probably don't know how to use it. by jomegat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Since they have your CC number, what would stop them from using it to buy something incriminating? Hey DHS, can't find the missing link? Provide it yourself then!

    --

    In theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice, they're not.

  8. And people bitch about British intrusiveness. by EWAdams · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'd rather have all the CCTV in the world than giving my entire identity, credit cards and all, to any DHS cocaine addict who happens to need a fix. At least CCTV can't read my passport and credit cards.

    --
    I piss off bigots.
    1. Re:And people bitch about British intrusiveness. by Cyberax · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "At least CCTV can't read my passport and credit cards."

      Yet.

  9. PCI Compliance? by atchijov · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Any business which is retaining credit card numbers and other personal information has to be PCI compliant. What about DHS?

    1. Re:PCI Compliance? by dannyrap · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not exactly. Any business that processes credit cards has to be PCI compliant. That means truncating the credit card number or encrypting it. So any company that give the DHS access to unencrypted credit card numbers no longer PCI compliant and is liable for damages in the event of a breach (which this may be).

  10. As a person with a greencard by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The DHS knows a shitload more about than just my travel records. And I had to pay a shitload of money for the privilege.

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    1. Re:As a person with a greencard by microbox · · Score: 3, Interesting

      At least somebody is keeping the records in order. A FOI request may be useful for when you want to write your autobiography.

      --

      Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
  11. Every time I do that I wonder... by wiredog · · Score: 4, Funny

    What if Richard Reid had been the Underwear Bomber instead of the show Bomber?

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
    1. Re:Every time I do that I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      What if Richard Reid had been the Underwear Bomber instead of the show Bomber?

      Airports in California would be very popular...Airports in New Jersey, not so much.

    2. Re:Every time I do that I wonder... by bhima · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In Atlanta, Ga I was pulled out of the line for an airport security, threatened and subjected to scrutiny which can only be characterized as "harassment"... for making this exact comment.

      --
      Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
    3. Re:Every time I do that I wonder... by snspdaarf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "No, Ma'am, the [Department of Homeland Security] do not have a sense of humor we are aware of."

      --
      Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
    4. Re:Every time I do that I wonder... by Skjellifetti · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The TSA's reason for why you have to take off your shoes is so they can x-ray for all kinds of stuff. (I know for a fact the archway metal detectors don't reliably pick up metal near the floor, and I've noticed the personnel don't wand all the way down.)

      Last time I was in India (Oct of 2001), they were using a standard metal detector with a two stair step in the center that raised you up enough to check your feet without requiring you to remove your shoes. Its probably too simple a solution for the U.S. though.

      --
      FreeSpeech.org
  12. Re:Thank you Navy and EFF by lakin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Id be a bit concerned about using a service like Tor when booking your flights. After all, is letting them know your IP when they know so much else really a big deal? They already know a lot about who you are, yet it looks quite dodgy if you tried to mask yourself. Also, what if the pc you tor out to the internet from is flagged no-fly? Sure, you could probably eventually prove it was nothing to do with you, but it wouldnt be a fun day in the airport!

    --
    Paul
  13. Unfortunately, nothing new... by shrtcircuit · · Score: 5, Informative

    I worked for a large company post-9/11 with fingers in most major industries, including a significant presence in travel (whether you knew it or not). Part of the data collection they did was essentially building profiles of everyone, including all of the information this guy obtained. The government couldn't legally collect the data, but being a private corporation, this place could. Naturally collecting all of that is really only useful for spying on people, so there was never any real doubt as to what happened to it. The rabbit hole goes a fair bit deeper into what you do and how that information is linked, and that was all just at this one company.

    1. Re:Unfortunately, nothing new... by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is what irks me. The government is forbidden to keep databases of this type, so they contract it out (F U Milton Friedmann!) then make their queries against a database that isn't under their direct control. Such a total abuse of the law.

      --
      I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  14. Question: How does any of this stop terrorism? by Newer+Guy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How does the Govt. having this information help the govt. stop terrorism? Anyone?

    1. Re:Question: How does any of this stop terrorism? by ralf1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A better question might be 'How does ANYTHING that DHS does curb terrorism?'

      --
      "Would you, could you, with a goat?" Dr Seuss
    2. Re:Question: How does any of this stop terrorism? by Skim123 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How does the Govt. having this information help the govt. stop terrorism? Anyone?

      Their job is not to stop terrorism, but rather to make people "feel" safer.

      --

      I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.

  15. Re:Other nuggets by Curmudgeonlyoldbloke · · Score: 4, Informative

    Looks like he went Tampa to London via Houston (used to be Intercontinental) and then mysteriously flew from Charles DeGaulle in Paris back to Tampa via Newark. (Hmmmmmm.. what of the missing segment? Hmm? Hmm?!!!)

    They have these crazy things in Europe called "trains" that connect city centres without having to hang around in an unfashionable suburb for a few hours waiting to be put into a metal tube. You don't even have to take your shoes off to get on them.

  16. Re:Other nuggets by nomadic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They have these crazy things in Europe called "trains" that connect city centres without having to hang around in an unfashionable suburb for a few hours waiting to be put into a metal tube. You don't even have to take your shoes off to get on them.

    Silly Europeans always have such a skewed sense of geography. Newark to Tampa is 1,000 miles, exactly. It's a two and a half hour flight and a 20 hour train ride.

  17. meal preferences by hey · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do they flag:
    kosher = maybe friend
    halal = terrorist
    vegan = hippie scum

  18. Well, if you don't have anything to hide... by CyberPhart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've actually heard people respond to revelations like this by saying, "If you're not doing anything wrong, why are you worried about the government having this information?" I then ask "Really? Well, tell me all about your sex life..no?..are you engaging in some perversion?" or "How much money have you got in the bank?...Why won't you tell me? Are you laundering money for drug dealers?" I don't know which is worse, these clowns prying into our lives or our wonderful Congress sitting there and letting them do it. Big Brother is taking over faster than you doublethink.