"A year ago today, Secretary Rice and I pledged to take significant steps to renew the United States' reputation as a welcoming nation to legitimate travelers while still securing our country from those who want to do us harm," said Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. "DHS TRIP will offer the legitimate traveler a clearly-defined process through which to report travel-related discrepancies thus improving the traveler experience overall. Ensuring that personal information is accurate and complete allows us to focus fewer resources on legitimate travelers and more resources on national security and law enforcement issues."
DHS TRIP is designed to provide an opportunity for individuals who have been repeatedly identified for additional screening to file an inquiry with DHS through a single process in order to have erroneous information corrected in DHS systems. The program will improve customer interface, facilitate information sharing among DHS agencies that receive traveler redress requests and institute performance metrics to track progress.
Beginning Feb. 20, 2007, DHS TRIP will serve as the central processing point for redress inquiries and route requests for redress to the appropriate DHS components, where they will be reviewed to reach a determination about a traveler's status. Individuals will have easy access to information collected through the DHS TRIP online system. As indicated in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), law enforcement information that is already exempt, and could potentially allow a terrorist to avoid detection, will remain inaccessible. Additional details, including how to file and track the progress of an inquiry, will be available at the program's launch.
DHS TRIP will share information it receives with the Department of State and airport and airline operators, as needed, to resolve issues. DHS TRIP will function in accordance with the routine uses identified in the applicable Privacy Act System of Records Notice (SORN) which, along with the NPRM, has been submitted to the Federal Register and will soon be published. To view the SORN and the NPRM, logon to www.regulations.gov.
