Privacy Act Request

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Attn: Mint Annex Building, FOIA Division

Washington, D.C. 20229

 

Dear FOIA Officer,

This letter constitutes a Privacy Act request under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. §552a.  I request copies of all information relating to myself contained in the system of records established for the Automated Targeting System (“ATS”).  Notice of this system of records (“SORN”) was made in the Federal Register on November 2, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 212, pages 64543-64546).  This request letter is accompanied by a completed Request for Records/Privacy Act Release Form.

My request is for all information relating to myself referenced in the Categories of Records in the System section of the SORN.  Specifically, I am asking for any PNR information obtained from commercial air carriers, any records relating to any risk assessments, the rules used for determining the assessments, any pointer or reference to the underlying records from other systems that resulted in the assessments, any APIS information, and any secondary inspection records.  I am requesting these records as is my right under 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(1). (See also OMB Guidelines (40 Fed. Reg. 28948, 28957) as well as a 2004 U.S. Department of Justice overview of the Privacy Act, “a requestor need not state his reason for seeking access to records under the Privacy Act …”[1])

Should CBP provide less than a complete copy of all records relating to myself contained in this system of records, I request a detailed explanation as to the reasons for denying or not fully complying with my request.

My full name is:            

My current address is:    

My date of birth is:        

My place of birth is:      

I promise to pay reasonable fees incurred in the copying of these documents up to the amount of $25.  If the estimated fees will be greater than that amount, please contact me before such expenses are incurred.

If you deny all or any part of this request, please cite each specific exemption that forms the basis of your refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available under the law.

I have traveled to and/or from the United States by at least one of the following modes of commercial travel: air, rail, marine vessel, and /or bus carrier and/or by making a land border crossing either by foot or by automobile.  Should CBP need my travel information to locate the requested records, please contact me and specify the information you require.

Contained in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Notice of Privacy Act System of Records for the Automated Targeting System identified as DHS-2007-0042 is the following language:

Notwithstanding the listed exemptions for the system, individuals, regardless of their citizenship, may make a written request to review and access personal data provided by and regarding the requester, or provided by a booking agent, brokers, or other person on the requester’s behalf, that is collected by CBP and contained in the PNR database stored in the ATS-P, and correct any inaccuracies.

and,

Individuals, regardless of nationality, may seek access to records about themselves in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, DHS policy allows persons, including foreign nationals, to seek access under the Privacy Act to raw PNR data submitted to ATS-P.

 

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_sorn_cbp_atsupdate.pdf

 

As such, I request as a non U.S. citizen my records contained in the System of Records for the Automated Targeting System.

Pursuant to 28 USCS §1726, and in compliance with 6 CFR 5.21(d), I declare (certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

 

Executed on this date:

 

Signature:

 


[1] USDOJ: FOIA: OVERVIEW OF THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974, 2004 EDITION, "Individual's Right of Access, May, 2004, available at http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/1974indrigacc.htm.