Are you certain of this? Is this allowed under Federal law in ordinary circumstances (that is,something not covered by terrorism laws,etc,etc)?
There is a scan code that has information in the passport...
Yes...name...DOB....nationality...place of birth,etc.
...as well as stamps of places visited.
Yes,but except in extraordinary circumstances,is the State Dept able to (or allowed to) keep track of countries visited?
Each foreign country can tell what country I have been to just by scanning my passport.