The Department of Homeland Security already knows everything about your travel. Now, for the first time, The Identity Project makes it easy for you to request the unclassified parts of the dossier that the DHS has complied on you.
Warning: You can only request records on behalf of yourself or others with their written explicit permission. There are severe penalties for making requests for records on someone else without their knowledge.
Are you prepared to find out for yourself the outrageous amount of personal information Homeland Security has been vacuuming-up on you? This is how to do it:
1. Download and fill-in the following two documents:(right-click links below and select "Download Linked File..." or "Save Linked File As..."
ATS Privacy Act Records Request(28 KB Word doc)
Privacy Act Release Form(24 KB Word doc)
No reason need be given for the request. Costs may be charged for photocopying or printing your dossier, but not for the search itself.
2. Sign and date them both. They do not have to be notarized.
3. Make and keep copies of the signed request and all correspondence.
4. Mail them – either by first class mail or (better yet) by registered mail – to the address found on the upper left-hand corner of each of the documents you downloaded. Sending your request via registered mail helps you to prove that they were sent if you have to appeal because your request was not responded to.
Q. When will I get my dossier?
A. OMB guidelines say that Homeland Security "should" acknowledge your request within 10 business days and provide access to the records within 30 days.
Q. What will my dossier contain?
A. The unclassified records you can expect to get will include PNRs, APIS Data; and Secondary Search Records.
Q. What if Homeland Security doesn't send me my dossier?
A. The courts have authority to enjoin an agency from withholding the documents and to order them produced.
Q. Where can I read more?
A. Don't Spy On Us has an excellent example of what a travel record can contain. The compendium of what this information means is here (download 4.6 MB PDF). The very best resource on obtaining government records of all kinds is EPIC's book "Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws 2004".
Please let us know that you have made a request and let us know your results.
The American society under surveillance by its own government is less inclined to exercise its First Amendment rights and dissent. This truly makes our "Homeland" less secure. Please support our efforts at The Identity Project and our parent organization The First Amendment Project.
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