U.S. Airline Sector Discreetly Providing Flight Data to Department of Homeland Security

A data broker affiliated with some of the largest airlines in the United States has been providing customer flight data access to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The information, collected by Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), comprises customer names, flight itineraries, and financial particulars related to bookings made through U.S. travel agencies.

ARC supplies this data to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agencies previously part of the U.S. Customs Service prior to its reorganization in 2003, both operating under the DHS umbrella.

As the singular financial intermediary between the airline sector and U.S. travel agencies, ARC is owned by eight major U.S. airlines. The company offers payment settlement services which contribute to its extensive travel information database available through its Travel Intelligence Program (TIP).

The latest contract made public, reported by a technology news outlet, involves CBP, with details indicating that the TIP pilot program has produced significant results for ongoing investigations and will remain beneficial once fully implemented for designated analysts.

The contract stipulates confidentiality regarding the data’s source, with the statement of work initiated in June 2024 and potentially extending through June 2029. This agreement specifies that CBP will refrain from publicly disclosing ARC or its employees as the data source, unless compelled by legal mandate.

ARC’s contract with ICE outlines the obligations for travel agencies, mandating daily submission of ticket sales and financial transactions for over 240 global airlines. This process underpins ARC’s TIP, which is instrumental to the intelligence missions of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

HSI INTEL focuses on investigating criminal networks and activities that threaten national security or exploit U.S. customs and immigration regulations. Access to the TIP database enables users to analyze 39 months of flight booking data, including passenger name records, travel dates, and in certain instances, credit card information.

In addition to DHS, various agencies, such as the Secret Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Marshals Service, have also procured access to this database.

ARC’s governance includes representatives from major airlines including Delta, Southwest, United, Lufthansa, Air France, American Airlines, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue, alongside partnerships with numerous airlines and travel agencies globally.