Quiz

Question 6

Have you ever flown on an airplane within the US?

Because you've flown on an airplane in the US

Before you can board a flight, you are screened by the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. TSA is a subagency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). TSA screens you using secret watchlists and algorithmic predictions to assess you for “risk.”

One Customs and Border Protection program, “Secure Flight,” allows TSA to access an algorithmic prediction tool called Automated Targeting System, or ATSOpens in new tab. ATS applies rules that TSA writes to subject some people to heightened security checks. Targeting rules, and the people targeted, can change day to day.

Some data systems you might encounter include: 

To see what databases would track you if your answer had been no, click the no button.

If you do ever fly within the U.S., your information will likely be processed by the Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD)Opens in new tab system, among other databases.

To see what databases would track you if your answer had been yes, click the yes button.

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Of the 13 monsters in this quiz, it looks like your data may be tracked by the following:

But there may be other smaller surveillance databases not covered in the quiz.

You may be asking yourself "What can we do?".

What now?

To learn more, check out the full From Data Criminalization to Prison Abolition Report.

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More about this quiz

There is no single database that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can consult to find a list of everyone they are able to deport.

As a workaround, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cross-checks many existing datasets. They use information from international visitors, visa holders, and arrest and conviction records. These datasets are not always reliable  at determining legal status. They are also deeply flawed, racist, and xenophobic.

More and more, DHS buys data from corporations to supplement their own databases. They can buy archives of location history, face and voice recognition files, and iris scans. Artificial intelligence tools use this data to predict behavior and infer relationships between people, places, and objects (like vehicles).

We spent months researching databases and data-sharing. But contractors and technologies change all the time, and many government data systems are shrouded in secrecy. We do not claim that the databases listed here make up a complete list, nor is it possible to make that list. Rather, we hope that this tool hints at the tangled and complex web of data extraction and criminalization.

The fight against migrant exploitation, racist border securitization, and deportation is a fight against data criminalization. It is a fight for collective self-determination and data liberation. Read more in our full report.