On November 2, 2006 the Department of Homeland Security published details of this program in the Federal Register.  It would assess air passengers and people who enter or leave the country “by automobile or on foot” and give them each a “terrorism risk profile” which would be retained for 40 years. 

The risk assessment process would mine a 5.3 billion-record government database and commercial databases to assign a numerical score to each person, with high scores being associated with high risk.  Travelers cannot see or challenge the ratings that would be compiled at the National Targeting Center in Virginia.  The data can however be shared with state, local and foreign governments and used to make hiring and contract decisions  (New York Times, December 2, 2006, Washington Post, November 3, 2007).