Global Entry and the U.S. surveillance state

You might be surprised to know what you get when you get your card

Newsweek, 8 September 2023

If you're one of millions of American travelers who boarded a plane this year in the post-pandemic wanderlust, the federal government is spying on you—unless you hold a Global Entry pass, in which case the Feds spy on you daily, even if you never leave your house.

That surprising nugget is quietly revealed in the Department of Homeland Security's latest Annual Performance Report, which not only talks about the enormous growth in the number of people in "trusted traveler" programs—TSA Pre and Global Entry—but also the number of those travelers who have been kicked out of the program. The reason? The Department vets more than seven million travelers every day, looking for derogatory information or other information that might indicate changes in "risk" status, and thus disqualify people for expedited travel. Travelers with neither Global Entry nor TSA PreCheck are still vetted against the watch list and no-fly list. Even those flying on domestic flights are checked.

The number of "Known Traveler Number holders"—those with TSA Pre and Global Entry and other travel documents—has now increased to over 31 million, according to the report, which was issued in March. Global Entry had 7,404,648 participants as of October 1, 2022, and the number of additional applications pending surpassed 10 million in FY 2022. That number exceeds the previous records of approximately three million applicants prior to the pandemic in 2019, says the report.

https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/video-gallery/2014/12/santa-joins-global-entry

In the fine print of applying for Global Entry, the Department says, "consent is implied" to constant review, even when people aren't traveling. According to the Department, in the year ending last October, about 12,000 Global Entry members have had their special status revoked. The main cause, according to Customs and Border Protection, is detection of any "ongoing investigation by any federal, state or local law enforcement agency," a change in status that DHS computers detect, flagging the trusted travelers.

Customs and Border Protection [CBP] "checks all GE members against major law enforcement databases every 24 hours," the report says. "The measure demonstrates the effectiveness of the GE trusted traveler program at ... quickly incorporating any changes in traveler risk-status that result in suspension or removal to ensure that all active GE members meet required security protocols at all times."

There's more. TSA looks at an average of two million domestic airline passengers every day to "vet" these travelers for derogatory information as well. What's TSA looking for? Obviously, those on various terrorist watch lists and no-fly lists, and something called the "PreCheck Disqualification Protocol," the TSA's own watchlist that keeps track of unruly passengers. The TSA maintains other watchlists as well, it says, "with respect to individuals who may pose a threat to transportation or National Security."

The TSA says it is the process of updating its vetting program "to reflect recent changes in privacy, security postures, and evolving threats." And its vetting is extending beyond air travel to train travel as well. "TSA continues efforts with Amtrak to determine strategies for vetting rail passengers," the report says.