U.S. rates travelers for terror risk
The Associated Press (at MSNBC)
Updated: 7:10 p.m. CT Dec 1, 2006

"… millions of Americans who travel internationally have been assigned risk assessments over the last four years without their knowledge.

"… … …

" Almost every person entering and leaving the United States by air, sea or land is assessed based on ATS' analysis of their travel records and other data, including items such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meal they ordered.

"The use of the program on travelers was quietly disclosed earlier this month when the department put a notice detailing ATS in the Federal Register, a fine-print compendium of federal rules. The few civil liberties lawyers who had heard of ATS and even some law enforcement officers said they had thought it was only used to screen cargo."

John