A data broker with five billion domestic flight records is selling access to the U.S. government, enabling warrantless searches of airline passengers’ data. The records, which include passengers’ names, flight itineraries and financial information, have been made available to agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Secret Service.
Documents obtained by 404 Media through a public records request show that the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), a data broker owned by at least eight major U.S. airlines, is providing federal agencies with far more information than previously known. Prior reporting found that ARC had allowed the government to search more than one billion records, while a new contract highlights access to “5 billion ticketing records” derived from more than 270 airlines and 12,800 travel agencies.
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The data broker’s board of directors includes representatives from “American Airlines, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, and European airlines Air France and Lufthansa, and Canada’s Air Canada,” 404 Media reports.
“Data broker loophole”
ARC was investigated earlier this year by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, who accused the data broker of refusing to answer oversight questions from Congress. Wyden also noted that a contract between ARC and Customs and Border Protection showed the data broker’s request that its role in providing the information be kept secret.
Wyden, whose scrutiny led ARC in June to officially register as a data broker in California, is once again calling on his fellow lawmakers to support legislation aimed at the data broker industry.
“Americans’ privacy rights shouldn’t depend on whether they bought their tickets directly from the airline or via a travel agency,” Wyden said. “ARC’s sale of data to U.S. government agencies is yet another example of why Congress needs to close the data broker loophole by passing my bipartisan bill, the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act.”
A newer contract from ARC shows the Secret Service’s plan to pay $885,000 for access to flight data up until 2028. When asked about the contract, a Secret Service spokesperson told 404 Media that it does not discuss “the tools used to conduct our operations.”
Airlines defend selling data
Other agencies with access to ARC’s data include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the State Department, the Transportation Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Marshals.
TSA, the State Department, U.S. Marshals, and the IRS. A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows the FBI has asked ARC to search its databases for a specific person as part of a drug investigation.
In a statement to 404 Media, ARC defended its ongoing sale of private flight data by citing its use “by the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement community to support national security and prevent criminal activity…”
ARC further said that its relationship with the U.S. government “has likely contributed to the prevention and apprehension of criminals involved in human trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering, sex trafficking, national security threats, terrorism and other imminent threats of harm to the United States.”
