New U.S. Customs Database

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061103-8143.html
US Customs announces massive new database on trucks and travelers
11/3/2006 10:51:44 AM, by Nate Anderson




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US Customs and Border Protection issued a notice in the Federal  
Register yesterday which detailed the agency's massive database that  
keeps risk assessments on every traveler entering or leaving the  
country. Citizens who are concerned that their information is  
inaccurate are all but out of luck: the system "may not be accessed  
under the Privacy Act for the purpose of contesting the content of  
the record."

The system in question is the Automated Targeting System, which is  
associated with the previously-existing Treasury Enforcement  
Communications System. TECS was built to screen people and assets  
that moved in and out of the US, and its database contains more than  
one billion records that are accessible by more than 30,000 users at  
1,800 sites around the country. Customs has adapted parts of the TECS  
system to its own use and now plans to screen all passengers, inbound  
and outbound cargo, and ships.



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