DHS Implementing Secret Risk Assessments For Int'l Travelers

The Homeland Security Department's new system for prescreening travelers to and from the United States is slated to go into effect today, drawing the ire of travel and privacy groups. The Automated Targeting System assigns a threat-assessment ranking to all inbound and outbound travelers, but the rules for determining threat assessments and any redress for air passengers remains unavailable.

DHS in an assessment of the program released last month said risk rankings are based on passenger name record data, noting that DHS is not collecting any new data from passengers. The system allows customs officers to determine if a "passenger or crewmember should receive additional screening prior to entry into or departure from the country because the traveler may pose a greater risk for violation of U.S. law," DHS said in a filing. The system reportedly had been secretly tested on millions of international passengers for four years.

For travelers crossing across the U.S. border by land, customs agents will check license plate numbers and cross-reference them with various state motor vehicle departments and other databases to provide "within seconds, a risk assessment for each vehicle."

The Business Travel Coalition and other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Cato Institute, said the system, which began exclusively for cargo screening and evolved to encompass travelers, should be scrapped.

In a BTC report issued Sunday, chairman Kevin Mitchell said the government should provide "substantially more details on the program to the public," extend the public commentary period and proceed with an official rulemaking before implementation.

In a posting to the Federal Register last month, DHS said this new system of records would go into effect Monday "unless comments are received that result in a contrary determination."