DHS Wants to Build a System to Surveil Americans' Travel Records [View all]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/dhs-wants-to-build-a-system-to-surveil-americans-travel-records/

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Secret Service want to build a tool for tracking US travelers’ flights and other personal information according to previously unreported documents reviewed by Mother Jones.

These agencies have asked for feedback from the private sector on whether this tool can be made, or if something like it already exists. Their request was posted on the government’s database for contractors. In it, the Secret Service, an arm of DHS, outlines the specifics they envision: a program that would provide real-time or near-real time access to a range of personal travel data, including passenger names, origins and destinations, flight numbers, ticket numbers, and forms of payment. The data would be gleaned from third-party ticketing sites, such as Orbitz or Expedia, and must cover major US and international airlines.

The proposed tool appears to be an attempt to rebuild a surveillance pipeline that was recently shuttered amid public backlash. Last year, The Lever and 404 Media revealed that the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC)—a data broker owned by the major US airlines—had discreetly sold flight data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which are both also arms of DHS. ARC ceased its so-called Travel Intelligence Program in November, citing pressure from lawmakers. DHS’s new Request for Information (RFI) seems to reference the now-defunct ARC program, saying the requested platform would “replace an existing commercial database used by the United States Secret Service for law enforcement travel data queries.” DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment, including a question about whether the agency is exploring a replacement for ARC.

“Travel records reveal an enormous amount of information about people’s private lives—where someone travels, how often they travel, and who they travel with—and expose deeply personal information, including medical care, family relationships, political activity, or religious practice,” said Tom Bowman, policy counsel with the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security & Surveillance Project. “It’s not hard to imagine that DHS would want access to these travel records to be able to track all sorts of people, whether it’s people who they’re targeting for immigration related proceedings, or whether it’s targeting people who have been involved in public dissent against federal immigration enforcement.”

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