That thunk you just heard was the sound of your privacy rights being stomped on again by the Bush administration. The muffled rattling that followed was the sound of George Orwell spinning in his grave. From the Associated Press (via CNN):

Homeland Security assigns terror scores to travelers

Without their knowledge, millions of Americans and foreigners crossing U.S. borders in the past four years have been assigned scores generated by U.S. government computers rating the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals.

The travelers are not allowed to see or directly challenge these risk assessments, which the government intends to keep on file for 40 years.

The government calls the system critical to national security following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some privacy advocates call it one of the most intrusive and risky schemes yet mounted in the name of anti-terrorism efforts.

Virtually every person entering and leaving the United States by air, sea or land is scored by the Homeland Security Department’s Automated Targeting System, or ATS. The scores are based on ATS’ analysis of their travel records and other data, including items such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meal they ordered. [full text]

A word to the wise: don’t order the hummus platter. And it’s probably not a good idea to unroll the ol’ prayer rug and bow towards Mecca before boarding. And, just to be safe, you might want to keep your copy of The Koran for Dummies at home.