The British are long time innovators of security protocols having dealt with the terrorism problem for decades. They were the first to use closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) to ring London. The devices were quick to identify past terrorists acts and are now used throughout the world. The Brits are now introducing a new e-border system that will monitor every passenger traveling into or out of Great Britain. The Department of Homeland Security would be well advised to copy the system. The e-border program requires the collection of 53 pieces of information (see questions on right) from all who wish to enter Britain. The Brits plan on taking this information when a ticket is purchased and distribute it to a variety of law enforcement agencies charged with protecting British boarders. The information will be made available for at least 24 hours before a journey is due to take place. The cost of the system is estimated to be around £1.2 billion over the next decade. The estimated £20 million a year for collecting the data will be absorbed by the travel companies, and, of course, passed on to the consumer through higher fares. The Government is also contemplating tapping the consumer for the cost of implementing eborders. The poor consumer always pays for the price of freedom. E-borders is truly a monumental task and will impact the estimated 305 million passengers who will journey in and out of Great Britain in 2014. No border crosser is immune. The plans impacts all the ways travelers (residents going abroad and foreigners traveling to the United Kingdom) leave the country. It applies to families taking a pleasure boat away from British waters and returning the next day to shore. Leaving the country by plane, ferry or car to France through the Eurotunnel will all apply and be subject to eborders monitoring. A U.S. company, Raytheon Systems, will run the computer system for the British Home Office. British security officials expect e-border to give them a better handle on who is in the United Kingdom at any given time. The Brits have been grappling with this problem of inventory ever since they scrapped embarkation controls nearly a decade ago. Critics of the e-border system make it clear that such an amount of personal data is sure to violate civil liberties. Nevertheless, a pilot project of e-border, Project Semaphore, successfully screened more than 29 million passengers with little impact on civil liberties. Moreover, British officials report that Project Semaphore has lead to the apprehension of more than 1,000 criminals and the interviewing of more than 15,000 people of interest by British law enforcement officials. With the reality of porous borders, e-borders makes sense. It is just another way to make us all safer as we head down the middle of the runway.