Database lets U.S. agencies keep watch on travelers

By AMY MAYRON

June 13, 2000 Web posted at: 5:03 PM EDT (2103 GMT)

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (St. Paul Pioneer Planet) -- Big Brother is watching when we travel, and what he can learn in just a few keystrokes may surprise you.

The cars, boats, businesses and guns you own, complete criminal histories, whether you pay your taxes on time and details about your overseas travel histories all are available to U.S. Customs agents, who can cross-reference the data against airline flight passenger lists.

The Treasury Enforcement Communications System was instrumental last Monday in the arrest of a St. Paul couple accused of trying to smuggle 13 1/2 pounds of opium into the country in hidden compartments in their luggage.

But some critics worry.

``It is kind of scary,'' said Michael Boyd, president of an aviation consulting and research firm in Colorado. ``It could be abused.'' He worries about corrupt officials who could be bribed into giving out personal information; neighborhood or political groups that could gain access; and people who might hack into the data.

The system is not well-advertised. A public fact sheet about the system includes vague references to the database contents, but first you'd have to know the system existed, and then you'd have to know of the sheet to ask for it.

Mike Netherland, resident agent in charge of U.S. Customs in Minneapolis, talked only about the system's existence. He would not elaborate on how frequently it is used or exactly what information it includes. Officials are close-mouthed about it because the information is confidential and is used in criminal investigations, he said.

Customs agents would not say what made them suspect the St. Paul couple, but a federal criminal complaint explained that agents had plugged a passenger list from the Tokyo flight into the system before the flight ever landed. The St. Paul address that the couple gave on their customs claim form matched a customs record of the destination of three packages of drugs that had previously been seized by the U.S. Customs Service.

The system links data from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, law enforcement agencies throughout the 50 states, and vehicle and driver registrations. The terminals can access information relating to guns, wanted people, cars, boats, license plates, securities and criminal histories.

Access to the system is granted to agents from the U.S. Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the IRS, the Justice Department, the Coast Guard and Interpol.

Not every person from every agency has access to everything. Users have passwords that allow them into sections for which they have clearance. For example, a customs agent looking for drug smugglers wouldn't necessarily have access to the IRS part of the system.

The system is used hundreds of times a day, and numerous arrests every week at ports of entry are directly attributed to it. In the Twin Cities, it has been used for much larger busts than last week's opium case. Agents have seized hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine and have arrested drug dealers who operate elaborate distribution rings in multiple states.

Some experienced travelers believe that having their name entered into a national database is a small price to pay for the security of having government agents monitor our nation's borders for terrorists and drug dealers.

``I don't know if it's anything to be alarmed about,'' said Tom Parsons, who runs Best Fares magazine and Bestfares.com, offering travel advice and booking services to nationwide subscribers. ``As long as it's used for intelligence versus harassment, I have no problem with it.''

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