Airlines Secretly Sold Your Travel Data to Homeland Security

In a twist that feels straight out of a dystopian novel, major U.S. airlines have been quietly selling your travel data to the Department of Homeland Security, courtesy of a shadowy middleman called the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). This isn’t just about your boarding pass; we’re talking names, itineraries, payment details, and more—scooped up without your consent and funneled to government agencies.

ARC, a company owned by giants like Delta, American, and United, runs a so-called Travel Intelligence Program that hoovers up data from domestic flight bookings made through travel agencies like Expedia. This isn’t about tickets bought directly from airlines, but the scope is still staggering: over a billion records, updated daily, ready to be queried by name or even credit card number. Since June 2024, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been tapping this data to track individuals, with contracts potentially running through 2029.

CBP claims it’s all for criminal investigations, but let’s be real—when the Secret Service, DEA, TSA, and even the Air Force are dipping into the same data pool, it smells like mass surveillance dressed up as law enforcement. The kicker? ARC asked CBP to keep its role hush-hush unless legally forced to spill the beans. So much for transparency.

This isn’t just a privacy violation; it’s a betrayal of trust. Travelers are reduced to data points, traded like stocks in a market you didn’t even know existed. Want to fight back? Book directly with airlines, use virtual credit cards, and share only what’s required. Privacy-focused browsers and data removal services can also help keep your info out of the wrong hands.

The bigger question is: when did flying from Chicago to Miami become an open invitation for Uncle Sam to snoop through your life? This secret data trade proves it—your personal information isn’t just up for grabs; it’s already been sold.