Ed Hasbrouck writes:
Today the Identity Project and allied civil liberties and human rights organizations submitted comments objecting to a proposal by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to require all travelers on international flights to or from the US to provide an address in the US, two phone numbers, and an email address, and prohibit or recommend that airlines not permit anyone who is unable or unwilling to provide this information to board any flight to or from the US. (See our report when this proposal was announced.)
In return for collecting this information and passing it on to CBP, airlines would be allowed to retain and use it for their own purposes, without permission from travelers. Airlines would also be allowed (and in some cases required) to pass it on to foreign governments.
The proposed CBP rule would apply to all travelers, including US citizens (regardless of whether they reside in the US), visitors, and asylum seekers.
Read more at Papers, Please!
h/t, Joe Cadillic
We enjoy international travel.
We don’t have 2 phone numbers. I suppose I could make one up. When dealing with people/govt/companies, they seem shocked that we don’t have any cell phone. Their processes assume that sending a text will work (it won’t).
I have relatives who choose not to own any phones. They use free SIP accounts only from a desktop computer.
Email addresses aren’t a problem. I create a new random one for each trip and for every organization. When the first spam arrives, that account is dropped. Must have gone through about 1000 email addresses over the years.
I do some of the same things you describe, but of course, we shouldn’t have to. The government shouldn’t be demanding so much info. How does an email address prove that the individual is who they say they are or that they will be at the address they indicate on their landing card? It doesn’t. I could open an email account for “Wayne” at tutanota or some other service, and not even have to use a tagged email address from my main service. And two phone numbers? Two phone numbers on me when I travel? What if I have a cellphone but there’s no international service plan on it? And can my other phone be a landline somewhere back in the U.S.? Can I give two landlines back in the U.S.?
This is all so over-the-top intrusive and unnecessary.