A contract obtained by 404 Media shows that an airline-owned data broker forbids the feds from revealing it sold them detailed passenger data
Jun 12, 2025
A data broker owned by major U.S. airlines—ARC—has been quietly selling domestic flight data, including names, itineraries, and payment details, to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The agency uses it to track persons of interest without traditional legal oversight, while being instructed not to disclose ARC as the source.
Key takeaways
- Who’s involved: ARC is owned by major U.S. airlines and facilitates data exchange for over 240 carriers. Its board includes reps from Delta, American, United, and others.
- What happened: ARC sold its Travel Intelligence Program (TIP) data to CBP, which includes passenger names, travel itineraries, and payment methods.
- Secrecy clause: ARC required CBP not to disclose ARC as the data source unless compelled by court order.
- Law enforcement use: CBP says the data helps locate persons of interest, especially during internal investigations. TIP data is updated daily and includes over 1 billion records from the past 39 months.
- Public concern: Privacy experts say this is part of a growing government reliance on private data brokers to obtain sensitive data outside legal channels—an echo of discredited mass surveillance tactics.
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