DHS's new "Automated Targeting System" illegal?

[rimfire]

The original news story about this is a few weeks old, but now it appears that ATS might actually be illegal.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72250-0.html

"The system appears to fly in the face of legal requirements Congress has placed in the Homeland Security appropriations bills for the last three years, which states, "None of the funds provided in this or previous appropriations Acts may be utilized to develop or test algorithms assigning risk to passengers whose names are not on government watch lists."

The prohibition most recently appeared in section 514(e) of Congress' 2007 appropriation, which was signed into law by President Bush on Oct. 4th. It's one of a set of restrictions on the long-delayed and scandal-plagued replacement for the current domestic air travel watchlist system."

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c109:7:./temp/~c109e4af0t:e67728:

Title V - General Provisions, Sec 514

(e) None of the funds provided in this or previous appropriations Acts may be utilized to develop or test algorithms assigning risk to passengers whose names are not on Government watch lists.

I'll be accused of being a liberal for making any furthur comments on the Executive branch and their disregard for the Constitution and the law.


Background
From http://epic.org/privacy/surveillance...6/default.html

The Automated Targeting System, part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, is under the Spotlight this month. For Fiscal Year 2007, President Bush has requested $1.94 billion for border security, which includes the Automated Targeting System.[1] The system was originally established to assess cargo that may pose a threat to the United States. Now the Department of Homeland Security proposes to use the system to establish a secret terrorism risk profile for millions of people, most of whom will be U.S. citizens. Simultaneously, it is seeking to remove Privacy Act safeguards for the database.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, ATS assigns a "risk assessment," which is essentially a terrorist risk rating, to all people "seeking to enter or exit the United States," "engag[ing] in any form of trade or other commercial transaction related to the importation or exportation of merchandise," "employed in any capacity related to the transit of merchandise intended to cross the United States border," and "serv[ing] as operators, crew, or passengers on any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or train who enters or exits the United States."

The Automated Targeting System’s terrorist risk profiles will be secret, unreviewable, and maintained by the government for 40 years. The profiles will determine whether individuals will be subject to invasive searches of their persons or belongings, and whether U.S. citizens will be permitted to enter or exit the country. Individuals will not have judicially enforceable rights to access information about them contained in the system, nor to request correction of information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely or incomplete

Federal, state, local, tribal, or foreign governmental agencies or multilateral governmental organizations responsible for investigating or prosecuting the violations of, or for enforcing or implementing, a statute, rule, regulation, order, or license, where CBP believes the information would assist enforcement of civil or criminal laws.

[DoctorDawg]

I feel safer already.

Is it just me, or does anybody else feel like an extra in 'V For Vendetta'?

[rimfire]

Sorry I forgot an important piece before my last paragraph. It should read:

According to the Privacy Act notice, Customs and Border Protection has identified 15 categories of “routine uses” of personal information to be collected and maintained in the program’s system of records. In one category, CBP anticipates disclosure to:

Federal, state, local, tribal, or foreign governmental agencies or multilateral governmental organizations responsible for investigating or prosecuting the violations of, or for enforcing or implementing, a statute, rule, regulation, order, or license, where CBP believes the information would assist enforcement of civil or criminal laws.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by DoctorDawg

I feel safer already.

Is it just me, or does anybody else feel like an extra in 'V For Vendetta'?

I was thinking closer to 1984 personally... V works also.

[AZXD]

I wonder if things have improved ??

[eric_t12]

so what if they score low on some fake card, azxd, its not like there's any way the terrorists could get into the country to attack us anyway... we're in iraq.

i'm just waiting for someone to bash the messenger, this... epic.org...

probably a liberal plant corporation anyway...

[FLSTFI Dave]

Originally Posted by AZXD

I wonder if things have improved ??

My bet is no...

I entered the USA twice by port last year, 2007 and was never checked. I entered three times by air and was only checked twice....

[AZXD]

Found the answer and well I guess it speaks for itself. It came from: http://homeland.house.gov/SiteDocume...3439-12273.pdf which to me means that it got a good dose of polishing before public release. Do you think it is accurate ???

[FLSTFI Dave]

Originally Posted by AZXD

Found the answer and well I guess it speaks for itself. It came from: http://homeland.house.gov/SiteDocume...3439-12273.pdf which to me means that it got a good dose of polishing before public release. Do you think it is accurate ???

Mostly accurate.

Maybe higher than deserved marks in some areas

[AZXD]

Originally Posted by FLSTFI Dave

Mostly accurate.

Maybe higher than deserved marks in some areas

I find it to be very revealing that Border Security, Critical Infrastructure, and Management and Organization are listed as incomplete

I wonder why Employee Moral is listed as an F and everything else appears to be almost stagnant ???

Did one of us forget to pay their taxes