Ed Hasbrouck discussesa report in the Boston Globe that was previously noted on this site. He writes, in part:
The story in the Globe speaks for itself, and is worth reading in full.
But lest it be misunderstood, here are some key points about what today’s news reveals, what’s new and what isn’t, and why it’s significant:
Is this a fundamentally new type of activity for the TSA or DHS or an expansion of its scope?
No, certainly not.
For at least ten years Federal Air Marshals have contributed observations of air travelersto the Transportation Information Sharing System, a database shared within and outside the DHS.
The TSA and other DHS components with which it shares data (including CBP) have for years been keeping individualized, highly detailed, highly intimate dossiers on all travelers, regardless of whether they are or ever have been suspected of any crime.
Those dossiers include — as we have seen in copies of our own files, and those that others have shared with us, obtained in response to Privacy Act and FOIA requests — not only whether two travelers (named and identified by age, gender, etc.) asked for one bed or two in their hotel room, as recorded in reservations routinely imported and mirrored by the DHS, but also free-text comments by TSA and CBP agents about what book a traveler was reading, what clothing they were wearing, and what they were eating.
Read more on Papers, Please!
h/t, Joe Cadillic