A hot potato: It's been revealed that the SEC bought access to more than one billion airline ticket records without obtaining a warrant, allowing the regulator to monitor people around the world. The airline-owned company acts as a financial clearinghouse between carriers and travel agencies, giving it access to a slew of booking information. ARC receives data from tickets bought through accredited travel agencies and third-party booking services, rather than purchases made directly from airline websites. Its database covers more than 270 carriers and thousands of travel agencies. ARC is co-owned by major airlines, including American Airlines, Delta, and United, which supplied the records through the company.