The Secret Government Rulebook That Could Label You a Terrorist-166 Page Here

The "March 2013 Watchlisting Guidance" was produced with the input of 19 agencies, including the CIA, Pentagon, NSA and FBI, and is officially unclassified. 

But as The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill reports, Attorney General Eric Holder has warned it is a "'clear roadmap' to the government's terrorist-tracking apparatus, adding: 'The Watchlisting Guidance, although unclassified, contains national security information that, if disclosed ... could cause significant harm to national security.'" The Intercept decided to publish the guidance despite the government's warning of threats to national security because the "system makes a mockery of the idea of due process," and that the public has a right to know about "what amounts to a shadow legal system." Said: Jeremy Scahill
You could Be a Terrorist According To Watchlisting Guidance Rulebook by Barbara Espinosa

In order to make the watchlist, neither "concrete facts" nor "irrefutable evidence" are required, and a wide loophole exists that allows a single White House official to add entire "categories" of people unilaterally. Once a person is on the list, government agents are required to collect detailed information from them during encounters at the airport or elsewhere:

In addition to data like fingerprints, travel itineraries, identification documents and gun licenses, the rules encourage screeners to acquire health insurance information, drug prescriptions, "any cards with an electronic strip on it (hotel cards, grocery cards, gift cards, frequent flyer cards)," multiple cellphones, email addresses, binoculars, peroxide, bank account numbers, pay stubs, academic transcripts, parking and speeding tickets, and want ads. The digital information singled out for collection includes social media accounts, cell phone lists, speed dial numbers, laptop images, thumb drives, iPods, Kindles, and cameras. All of the information is then uploaded to the TIDE database.

Screeners are also instructed to collect any "pocket litter," scuba gear, EZ Passes, library cards, and the titles of any books, along with information about their condition -- "e.g., new, dog-eared, annotated, unopened." Business cards and conference materials are also targeted, as well as "anything with an account number" and information about any gold or jewelry worn by the watchlisted individual. Even "animal information" -- data about pets from veterinarians or tracking chips -- is requested. The rulebook also encourages the collection of biometric or biographical data about the travel partners of watchlisted individuals.

The Obama administration has quietly approved a substantial expansion of the terrorist watchlist system, authorizing a secret process that requires neither “concrete facts” nor “irrefutable evidence” to designate an American or foreigner as a terrorist, according to a key government document obtained by The Intercept.

The new guidelines allow individuals to be designated as representatives of terror organizations without any evidence they are actually connected to such organizations, and it gives a single White House official the unilateral authority to place “entire categories” of people the government is tracking onto the no fly and selectee lists. It broadens the authority of government officials to “nominate” people to the watchlists based on what is vaguely described as “fragmentary information.” It also allows for dead people to be watchlisted.

Over the years, the Obama and Bush Administrations have fiercely resisted disclosing the criteria for placing names on the databases—though the guidelines are officially labeled as unclassified. In May, Attorney General Eric Holder even invoked the state secrets privilege to prevent watchlisting guidelines from being disclosed in litigation launched by an American who was on the no fly list. In an affidavit, Holder called them a “clear roadmap” to the government’s terrorist-tracking apparatus, adding: “The Watchlisting Guidance, although unclassified, contains national security information that, if disclosed … could cause significant harm to national security.”