Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection-007 Border Crossing Information System of Records

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security proposes to update and reissue a current Department of Homeland Security system of records titled, ``Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Customs and Border Protection-007 Border Crossing Information(BCI) System of Records.'' This system of records allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect and maintain records on border crossing information for all individuals who enter, are admitted or paroled into, and (when available) exit from the United States, regardless of method or conveyance. Border crossing information includes certain biographic and biometric information; photographs; certain mandatory or voluntary itinerary information provided by air, sea, bus, and rail carriers or any other forms of passenger transportation; and the time and location of the border crossing. This system of records notice was previously published in the Federal Register on May 28, 2013 (78 FR 31958). A Final Rule exempting portions of this system from certain provisions of the Privacy Act was published on February 3, 2010, and remains in effect (75 FR 5491). The Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Customs and Border Protection is updating the categories of records to include the capture of biometric information including digital fingerprints, photographs, and iris scans at the border as part of the Department's ongoing effort to better reflect the categories of records in its collection of information. U.S. Customs and Border Protection also is updating the system of records notice to include the collection of records, including photographs of scars, marks, tattoos, and palm prints from individuals in connection with the biometric sharing between the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System/Next Generation Identification of the Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security Automated Biometric Identification System information technology platform. Finally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is updating the categories of records collected from an associated Advance Passenger Information System transmission to accurately represent collection of personally identifiable information at the border. The Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Customs and Border Protection is updating this system of records notice to provide notice of the collection of biometric information from U.S. citizens and certain aliens upon arrival to, and departure from, the United States. The exemptions for the existing system of records notice published May 28, 2013 (78 FR 31958) continue to apply for this updated system of records for those categories of records listed in the previous BCI System of Records Notice. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will issue an updated notice and Final Rule to address that certain records ingested from the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) (see DHS/CBP-005 Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) SORN, 80 FR 13407 (March 13, 2015)) will continue to be covered by the exemptions claimed for those records in that system pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2) and 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2). The Department of Homeland Security will include this system in its inventory of record systems.