DHS/ICE/PIA-047 DHS Victim Information and Notification Exchange

The Department of Homeland Security Victim Information and Notification Exchange (DHS-VINE) is a new system that DHS U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) established to automatically notify certain individuals about changes to a particular alien’s custodial status with ICE. These particular aliens, referred to in this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) as “aliens,” include those who have been charged with a crime, and those convicted of a crime, so long as a crime victim or victim advocate has registered with DHS-VINE to be notified upon change to the alien’s custodial status with ICE. For purposes of the DHS-VINE system, individuals eligible to receive custody status notifications – hereafter “eligible registrants” – are victims and witnesses associated with aliens charged or convicted of a crime (at the federal or state level), as well as “victim advocates.” Victim advocates are individuals with a legal responsibility to act on behalf of a victim or witness (e.g., attorneys, parents, legal guardians) and individuals acting at the request of a victim or witness. DHS-VINE will allow eligible registrants to directly register for custodial status notifications via a web interface, and will also transfer eligible registrant data from a State VINE  database (hereafter “State VINE”) to ensure those individuals who registered with State VINE continue to receive custody status updates once an alien is transferred from state to ICE custody. This PIA details the protections that are in place for the personally identifiable information (PII) pertaining to eligible registrants, aliens, that DHS-VINE collects, uses, and maintains. 

January 2017

Associated SORN(s)

• DHS/ICE-011 Criminal Arrest Records and Immigration Enforcement Records (CARIER)