Press Room

Assignment Editors and Journalists:

If there is any way we can help you with a story, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Edward Hasbrouck
The Identity Project
PO Box 170640-idp
San Francisco, CA 94117-0640
info AT papersplease DOT org
+1 (415) 824-0214 mobile (voice/Signal; press calls only, no marketing or robocalls)

We work remotely, and we are often traveling, so it’s usually faster to contact us by email, phone, or Signal than by snail-mail.

Article Archive:

TSA Confirms Biometric Scanning Soon Won’t Be Optional Even For Domestic Travelers
by Tim Cushing
TechDirt
March 21, 2023

Mit Passagierdaten gegen die internationale Antifa?
English version: German travel ban: Using passenger data against international Antifa?
by Matthias Monroy
Neues Deutschland (nd)
March 9, 2023

Facial Recognition Comes to a TSA Checkpoint Near You
by J.D. Tuccille
Reason Magazine
February 15, 2023

A Trans Hacker Was Able to Access and Leak the No Fly List. About 10% of people included on the list had either ‘Muhammad’ as a first or last name.
by James Factora
Them
January 23, 2023

Hacktivist finds US ‘no-fly’ list reveals systemic bias, surveillance
by Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Business Insider
January 21, 2023

Joe Biden Has Two Immigration Policies: The president is working to make America’s asylum system more humane, while preventing anyone from reaching it.
by Felipe de la Hoz
Slate
June 30, 2021

Papers Please Has Something To Tell You About The ‘No Fly’ List And It’s Going To Make You Sad
by Tim Cushing
TechDirt
January 28, 2021

Why Biden’s ‘Virtual’ Border Could Be Worse Than Trump’s Wall: Advanced surveillance tech on the border poses dangers to both migrants and citizens.
by Felipe de la Hoz
The Nation
January 22, 2021

No one should be on the No-Fly List
by Cory Doctorow
Pluralistic.net
January 20, 2021

Should you upload your ID before you travel?
by Christopher Elliott
Washington Post
March 4, 2020

DHS Aims to Expand Facial Recognition at Border to Include U.S. Citizens
by Jennings Brown
Gizmodo
December 4, 2019

Navigating a Nightmare: How to Get Through TSA Without an ID
by Andy Schirrmeister
Fodor’s Travel
November 11, 2019

The US Government Will Be Scanning Your Face At 20 Top Airports, Documents Show
by Davey Alba
Buzzfeed News
March 11, 2019

Refugees could travel to Europe or America by air. What’s stopping them?
by Saad Hasan
TRT World
January 16, 2019

DHS Continues Facial Recognition Deployment With An Eye On Expanding Program To All Domestic Travelers
by Tim Cushing
TechDirt
September 5, 2018

Real ID cards available in California come with controversy
by Melanie Woodrow
ABC7-TV, San Francisco
January 22, 2018

Is Silicon Valley Building the Infrastructure for a Police State?
by Zach Weissmueller
Reason.TV
November 10, 2017

The new DHS plan to gather social media information has privacy advocates up in arms
by Shirin Jafaari
Public Radio International
October 12, 2017

Feds Monitoring Social Media Does More Harm Than Good
by Lily Hay Newman
Wired News
September 28, 2017

Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles: 17 Hours Without a Laptop
by Kaveh Waddell
The Atlantic
March 21, 2017

Why Protesters Gathered Outside Peter Thiel’s Mansion This Weekend
by Anna Wiener
The New Yorker
March 14, 2017

Palantir Provides the Engine for Donald Trump’s Deportation Machine
by Spencer Woodman
The Intercept
March 2, 2017

How Long Can Border Agents Keep Your Email Password? Some data gathered from travelers going through customs can stay in a Homeland Security database for 75 years.
by Kaveh Waddell
The Atlantic
February 27, 2017

Documents suggest Palantir could help power Trump’s ‘extreme vetting’ of immigrants
by Spencer Woodman
The Verge
December 21, 2016

Texas Matters: TSA vs. Texas Drivers License
by David Martin Davies
Texas Public Radio
January 11, 2016

T.S.A. Moves Closer to Rejecting Some State Driver’s Licenses for Travel
by Jad Mouawad
New York Times
December 28, 2015

A Rebuff to Overbroad Watch Lists
by the Editorial Board
New York Times
January 21, 2014

Case Over No-Fly List Takes Bizarre Turn As Gov’t Puts Witness On List, Then Denies Having Done So
by Mike Masnick
TechDirt
December 4, 2013

DHS stalls no-fly list trial by putting witness on no-fly list
by Cory Doctorow
BoingBoing
December 4, 2013

Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly
by Susan Stellin
New York Times
October 21, 2013

Your risks and rights with TSA’s ‘enhanced’ screening
by Declan McCullagh
C|NET
November 24, 2010

The Watch List is Short, But Is It Useful?
by Ryan Singel
Wired News
October 24, 2008

E.U. Seeks Data on American Passengers
by Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post
November 4, 2007

‘Secure Flight’ insecurities
by Patt Morrison
Los Angeles Times
October 18, 2007

US demands air passengers ask its permission to fly
by Wendy M. Grossman
The Register (UK)
October 12, 2007

Industry Voices Secure Flight Concerns
by Jay Boehmer
Business Travel News
October 8, 2007

US records UK visitors’ race and reading habits
by Tim Shipman
The Telegraph (UK)
September 24, 2007

Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented
by Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post
September 22, 2007 (front page)

US-Regierung will wissen, wer mit wem reist und was man liest
Heise (Germany)
September 22, 2007

Homeland Security Not Interested in Your Books, DHS Says
by Ryan Singel
Wired News
September 20, 2007

U.S. Airport Screeners Are Watching What You Read
by Ryan Singel
Wired News
September 20, 2007

May I See Your Papers Please?
Steven Cherry
Tech Talk (IEEE Spectrum)
September 17, 2007

Der undurchsichtige Weg der Fluggastdaten
by Monika Ermert
Heise (Germany)
August 17, 2007

The great Passenger Name Record sell out
by Wendy M. Grossman
The Register (UK)
August 12, 2007

Heikle Hilfestellung zur Weitergabe von Fluggastdaten
by Monika Ermert
Heise (Germany)
August 3, 2007

Companies: Some EU CRS Rules Needed
by Mary Ann McNulty
TheTransnational.Travel
May 2, 2007

Privacy advocates sue DMV over license requirements
by Kyle Hopkins
Anchorage Daily News
March 3, 2007

Several States Seek To Kill Federal ‘Real ID’ Requirements
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
Fox News
February 1, 2007

Airline “Risk Assessment”: Defending the Right to Snoop
by Sally B. Donnelly
Time
December 8, 2006

Traveler Risk System May Violate Ban
Michael J. Sniffen
Associated Press
December 8, 2006

DHS Passenger Scoring Illegal?
by Ryan Singel
Wired.com
December 7, 2006

USA to ground all travellers until “cleared”
by Thomas C Greene
The Register (UK)
November 6, 2006

Informal survey shows lax ID checks for air travelers
by Sarah Lai Stirland
National Journal’s Technology Daily
March 23, 2006