What Happened
WIRED obtained records through Freedom of Information Act requests to CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility and the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. The records, dating from 2009 through 2022, contain hundreds of allegations that employees misused sensitive government databases.
The alleged targets included romantic interests, family members and colleagues. In one case, a CBP officer allegedly used government databases to contact a flight attendant. In another, an officer was accused of pulling information from trusted-traveler applications to ask people out. Another allegation involved providing border-crossing data to someone in a heated divorce.
Nearly 300 Entries, One Very Bad Search History
WIRED identified almost 300 data-related entries. It reported that 138 were referred to management, 78 were serious enough to go to criminal investigators, and 43 were classified as “Information Only.” The records also included allegations involving cell-phone tracking and data disclosures.
At least six entries explicitly described employees querying themselves, which is either a warning sign or the world's least relaxing version of checking your own Google results.
The Dumb Part
Government surveillance tools are supposed to help investigate crimes and screen travelers. Turning them into a private detective service for dating, divorce and workplace grudges is the bureaucratic equivalent of using a border wall as a dating-app profile.
The Bottom Line
These are allegations in internal records, not findings that every named employee committed misconduct. They do show the risk of giving powerful data systems to ordinary people and hoping professional ethics will do all the access control. The database can tell who crossed a border; it should not help someone decide whether an ex has moved on.
Sources
WIRED: CBP database misuse allegations
DocumentCloud: released CBP records