There are major nightmare stories on the web posted by people who used global entry. Some feel it’s a nice route to turn good law abiding citizens into criminals.

Some of our friends/colleagues also had problems (even getting approved for global entry). Even if 10,000 years ago you had commited a minor thing when you were young and stupid and even if you’re not convicted for it, they will still deny you. But not to worry. But many of them say that not to feel too bad, if you’re denied. Being denied is only a blessing not a curse. Because even if one gets approved just making a very small mistake in counting or thinking (in midst of your travels where some things usually you take for granted very easily) can get you blacklisted and turn you into a criminal in their customs records.

See this article here: http://onyoursi.de/2011/10/whats-your-pr…

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/practical…

http://www.travelunderground.org/index.p…

Nightmare stories how how one person who used it and due to glitch /problem in their system get blacklisted for life.
Now one has to understand that if you ever make a tiny mistake as some of these people mentioned in the links above (mistakes like failing to declare even a single count of things such as 6 sweaters instead of 8 sweaters , missing a minor minor thing you got like a chocholate box and such ) and if the customs pull you over to random check you after you used the kiosk, and find this tiny discrepancy, it’s not a easy go, like you had without global entry anymore. They will immediately consider that you’re evading the customs and black list you , revoke your global entry for ever. To make it worse, from then on even if you don’t have global entry, even on regular customs lines you will be forced to go through a seconday check (which would take upto 45 minutes every time) every single time in or out the state or country.

Now this scenario and experience of several people who were law abiding citizens now simply for reasons turned into criminals , really make one think about if it is worth it or not. In my books, and from our and other experiences we heard being in a vast company group, absolutely not.

Global entry is heavily marketed (even my American express Cards) all over by customs mainly for financial purposes. Do you really think they will have it approved for everyone without any issues as much as money they collect from all people? Not at all. If so, your global entry lines will be much much longer. There are so many people who apply get rejected and you’ve no legal way of appeal (they’re simply above the law just like the patriot act and using any lawyers to infrom them of your situation will simply won’t help)

We had several friends/colleagues who had issues and decided to not use it anymore.

There’s way too much risk than reward. And it is not worth getting black listed , if you forget one minor thing in your luggage or if their system had some issues or there was a minor communication or misunderstanding of things that most people take for granted.

So we believe the global entry motto should be “Welcome to global entry. Turning good law abiding citizens into criminals”

Then when I was returning from CHICAGO OHARE, TSA people there does not know what the GB card is. Aparently airport in USA works like independent entities and TSA the sadly the same.!!!

They do run a background check I’m sure and probably do keep track of activity, but cracking your phone conversatations and the other stuff you mention? I doubt that unless there was something suspicious that raised suspicions and even then, I believe they’d need to go through normal legal channels to get that – I don’t think anything you agree to gives them full access to your entire life.

¨The kiosk receipt is to indicate to CBP that you have successfully used the kiosk. The CBP officer at the egress control point (after baggage claim) will validate the receipt belongs to you and normally clear you to depart. There should be a designated line for Global Entry members at the egress control point to exit the CBP area.

If the kiosk receipt prints with an “X” you are to report to the nearest staffed CBP passport control “primary” booth. It should be right near the kiosk. You do not have to get back on line. The CBP officer at the passport control “primary” booth will review your documents, the reason for the “X”, and either release you from there, or refer you to “secondary” for additional processing.

The “X” can mean many different things: random inspection; you have items to declare; you have duty to pay; you have agriculture products that need to be examined; your membership may need review; your fingerprints may not have matched, the system may have trouble completing the transaction; you may have timed out on one of the screens, or other issues.

You must have the “X” cleared before proceeding the egress control point referenced above, or you will be directed back for processing.¨

I hope this clears up the issue. I know it gave me more detail on how it all works. So, thanks Ross for your comment!