U.S. Citizens' Border Crossings Tracked
"The federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations," reports The Washington Post. "Officials say the Border Crossing Information system, disclosed last month by the Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice, is part of a broader effort to guard against terrorist threats. It also reflects the growing number of government systems containing personal information on Americans that can be shared for a broad range of law enforcement and intelligence purposes, some of which are exempt from some Privacy Act protections."
Jim Harper, director of Cato's information policy studies and a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, comments: "Mass surveillance of American citizens' border crossings has essentially nothing to do with terrorism. DHS' collection and databasing of law-abiding citizens' movements may be done in the name of security, but it's really about control -- federal government control of the citizen. The DHS didn't even consult its own experts on the privacy consequences of this program. The Border Crossing Information System was not reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee before it was implemented. This is an agency at odds with Americans' privacy."
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Reading the foregoing, one might conclude that the left hand and the right hand aren't really on speaking terms. Seems as if they should be, but that's simply how it looks to me. While others might draw different conclusions, the following question comes to mind re the antics of DHS, other government agencies too. Who watches the watchmen? Also, why is it that "our" government seems to target, to look upon with suspicion, it's citizens? Amazing what one can find in The Federal Register. Possibly sad that it is read by so few of the citizenry, a failing that I too am guilty of.
"The federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations," reports The Washington Post. "Officials say the Border Crossing Information system, disclosed last month by the Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice, is part of a broader effort to guard against terrorist threats. It also reflects the growing number of government systems containing personal information on Americans that can be shared for a broad range of law enforcement and intelligence purposes, some of which are exempt from some Privacy Act protections."
Jim Harper, director of Cato's information policy studies and a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, comments: "Mass surveillance of American citizens' border crossings has essentially nothing to do with terrorism. DHS' collection and databasing of law-abiding citizens' movements may be done in the name of security, but it's really about control -- federal government control of the citizen. The DHS didn't even consult its own experts on the privacy consequences of this program. The Border Crossing Information System was not reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee before it was implemented. This is an agency at odds with Americans' privacy."
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Reading the foregoing, one might conclude that the left hand and the right hand aren't really on speaking terms. Seems as if they should be, but that's simply how it looks to me. While others might draw different conclusions, the following question comes to mind re the antics of DHS, other government agencies too. Who watches the watchmen? Also, why is it that "our" government seems to target, to look upon with suspicion, it's citizens? Amazing what one can find in The Federal Register. Possibly sad that it is read by so few of the citizenry, a failing that I too am guilty of.