Automated Targeting System
Request your own: |
For a long time I have been musing about the role of databases and data collection in our collective present and future. Well the saga that started in September 2007 has come to an end. At that time I submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Customs and Border Protection Agency for all the information related to me in the Automated Targeting System. The Department of Homeland Security uses this system (with unknown effectiveness) to determine who are criminals and terrorists. My request returned a 19 page dossier on me (!). Interestingly enough, a lot of information on the report was blacked out. I find it curious that there is so much information on me, especially the stuff I'm not allowed to see "to protect my privacy". I'm posting my report on the left. I invoke the lazy Internet to find out anything interesting about me from the document. If you ask me it looks like there is a lot of information in the report that would be good for a forensic analysis after the fact, but I don't know that my trip to Osaka and email address are going to do much to stop terrorist attacks. If a plane blew up in Osaka, then, sure, you could find out that I was on it, but that doesn't require the ATS. If you would like to request your own information I've posted the letters I used on the left also. The letter originated from a post on the Consumerist blog which has since disappeared. |
(Stuff That I'm Messing With) Permanent Link made 12:34 PM | TrackBacks (0)