DHS/USSS/PIA-020 United States Secret Service Counter Surveillance Division Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Test

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Secret Service’s (USSS or Secret Service) Counter Surveillance Division (CSD) is conducting a Proof of Concept to test and evaluate a tethered small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) during a Presidential visit to the Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey, in August 2017. The Proof of Concept will help determine the potential future use of tethered sUAS in supporting the Agency’s protective mission. The tethered sUAS used in the Proof of Concept is operated using a microfilament tether that provides power to the aircraft and the secure video from the aircraft to the Operator Control Unit (OCU). The sUAS is equipped with electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) camera. USSS is conducting this privacy impact assessment (PIA) to evaluate the privacy risks associated with tethered sUAS’s surveillance and image capturing capabilities. This PIA is limited to covering the use of EO/IR sensors on a single tethered sUAS during one event. Any other use of these types of sensors by USSS on USSS aircraft—including sUAS—will be addressed in a future PIA.

August 2017

Associated SORN(s)

• DHS/USSS-001 Criminal Investigation Information System SORN
• DHS/USSS-004 Protection Information Systems SORN