COMMENTS OF THE ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER

EPIC comments here to 1) urge CBP not to make use of the app mandatory in the future, 2) highlight the serious privacy, safety, and civil rights concerns created by CBP One, and 3) urge OMB to take an active role in managing expansions of the CBP One app to prevent harms. [...] DHS first rolled out the CBP One app in 2020 for the single purpose of collecting electronic I-94 forms.4 The app is a remake of the CBP Roam app that was designed only to address a specific problem, people boating across the northern border on the Great Lakes and returning in a single day. [...] Since then, CBP has consistently expanded the use of the CBP One app and failed to update its 2 See, e.g., Comments of EPIC to the Department of Homeland Security, Terrorist Screening Database System of Records Notice and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Docket Nos. [...] The CBP One app collects a geolocation ping when users submit information to the app, logging the location of the phone.18 CBP initially stated that the GPS coordinates were retained only briefly, but now acknowledges retaining that data for one year, and providing CBP staff with access to the data.19 When CBP conducts Biometric Exit at airports or land borders, the agency does not get access to i. [...] CBP should never require the use of the CBP One app as the sole means to apply for benefits and should not codify the use of any app with demonstrated flaws and documented biased impacts.