US keeps track of border crossings by its citizens

Officials say the Border Crossing Information system, disclosed late last month by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a Federal Register notice, is part of a broader effort to guard against terrorist threats. It also reflects the growing number of government systems containing personal information on Americans that can be shared for a broad range of law enforcement and intelligence purposes.

While international air passenger data has long been captured this way, Customs and Border Protection agents only this year began to log the arrivals of all US citizens across land borders. But the advent of machine-readable identification documents, which the government now mandates for everyone crossing the border, has made gathering the information more feasible. By June, all travelers crossing land borders will need to present a machine-readable document, such as a driver's license with a radio frequency identification chip or a passport.

“People expect to be checked when they enter the country and for the government to determine if they're admissible or not,” said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology. “What they don't expect is for the government to keep a record for 15 years of their comings into the country.”