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Privacy

The DHS Privacy Office is responsible for evaluating the Department programs, systems, and initiatives for potential privacy impacts, and providing strategies to reduce the privacy impact.

  • DHS/CBP/PIA-067 U.S. Customs and Border Protection Unified Secondary

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO) is responsible for processing individuals entering the United States at Ports of Entry. To facilitate individual processing, CBP is expanding the use of the Unified Secondary System (USEC) to receive specified biographic and biometric information in advance from certain undocumented individuals who may seek to apply for admission at a U.S. port of entry. On behalf of these undocumented individuals, International Organizations (IO) or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) submit specified biographic and biometric information to CBP via the CBP One™ Mobile Application. Upon arrival at the port of entry and referral to secondary, CBP officers access this previously submitted information within USEC to pre-populate standard intake processing fields within the system. CBP is conducting this PIA update to analyze the privacy risks of expanding Unified Secondary to collect and store advance arrival information from certain undocumented individuals.

  • DHS/CBP/PIA-070 Processing Individuals Subject to Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is tasked with safeguarding America’s borders while enhancing the nation’s global economic competitiveness by enabling legitimate trade and travel. As of February 2021, there were approximately 25,000 individuals enrolled in Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) outside of the United States awaiting adjudication of their removal proceedings. CBP will leverage technology solutions, including facial recognition technology, to verify MPP enrollment and case status, and streamline these individuals’ processing into the United States. CBP is conducting this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to assess the privacy risks and mitigations associated with the biometric and biographic information collected to process individuals enrolled in MPP.

  • Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Verification Division administers the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program. SAVE is a fee-based inter-governmental initiative designed to help federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies confirm citizenship and immigration status prior to granting benefits and licenses, as well as for other lawful purposes. The purpose of this update is to discuss the changes to SAVE, including: (1) a new information collection, (2) the use of the Person Centric Entity Resolution microservice, (3) migration to a cloud-hosted environment, (4) transition from a paper-based process to a paperless process, and (5) to inform the public of USCIS’s use of information from SAVE in administering bonds posted as security for performance and fulfillment of the financial obligations of a bonded noncitizen (someone who is not a U.S. Citizen) to the U.S. Government. USCIS is publishing an update to this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to describe the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII), as well as the risks associated with these updates.

  • DHS/USCIS/PIA-016 Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS 3) and Associated Systems

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) oversees lawful immigration to the United States and is responsible for processing petitions, applications, and other requests for immigration benefits and requests. Executive Order 13780, "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect standard data on immigration forms and in case management systems. USCIS is now updating this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to provide notice of USCIS updating certain immigration forms and associated systems, such as the Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS 3), in support of the Executive Order 13780. Upon publication of this PIA, USCIS will collect additional biographic and social media data elements necessary for identity verification, vetting, public safety, and national security screening. USCIS is updating this PIA to evaluate the privacy risks and mitigations associated with these changes including the collection, use, and maintenance of additional personally identifiable information (PII).

  • Case and Activity Management for International Operations (CAMINO)

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) oversees lawful immigration to the United States and is responsible for processing petitions, applications, and other requests for immigration benefits and requests. Executive Order 13780, "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect standard data on immigration forms and in case management systems. USCIS is now updating this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to provide notice of USCIS updating certain immigration forms and associated systems, such as the Case and Activity Management for International Operations (CAMINO), in support of the Executive Order 13780. Upon publication of this PIA, CAMINO will collect additional biographic and social media data elements necessary for identity verification, vetting, public safety, and national security screening. Additionally, USCIS is updating this PIA to clarify that the entire Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO) Directorate now uses CAMINO and to update appendices to include new source and interconnected systems. This PIA update evaluates the privacy risks and mitigations associated with these changes including the collection, use, and maintenance of additional personally identifiable information (PII).

  • DHS/USCIS/PIA-082 Quality Assurance Database (QADB)

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) oversees lawful immigration to the United States. USCIS’ mission is to preserve the integrity of the legal immigration system by efficiently and fairly adjudicating immigration requests. USCIS operates the Quality Assurance (QA) Program to evaluate the application of immigration laws, regulations, and policies of previously adjudicated immigration requests. USCIS operates a QA Program to systematically review immigration request decisions using information originally collected during the adjudication process to ensure the consistent processing of immigration requests and to inform USCIS leadership on relevant trends. USCIS is conducting this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to discuss the Quality Assurance Database (QADB) used to support the QA Program and to assess the personally identifiable information (PII) used to perform quality assurance reviews.

  • DHS/USCIS/PIA-084 ATLAS

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) developed ATLAS (not an acronym) to automate, streamline, and support accurate exchange of data among USCIS, DHS, and non-DHS systems used to support biometric and biographic-based screening and vetting of immigration requests. ATLAS is used as both an automated check service platform and rule-based screening platform for USCIS. This Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) evaluates the privacy risks and mitigations associated with ATLAS.

  • DHS/ALL/PIA-088 Preventing Infectious Disease at DHS Facilities During Declared Public Health Emergencies

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued discretionary guidance to its Components designed to prevent the spread of infectious disease or illness among its workforce in the event of a declared public health emergency. These processes include workforce accountability tracking, basic health screening of individuals attempting to enter to DHS facilities, laboratory testing of personnel and visitors scheduled to occupy or visit certain DHS facilities, and contact tracing to identify members of the DHS workforce or visitors who might have been exposed while at a DHS worksite. DHS is conducting this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) because some of these processes involve the collection and use of personally identifiable information (PII).

  • DHS/TSA/PIA-050 Amtrak Rail Passenger Threat Assessment

    The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for security in all modes of transportation, including surface modes such as rail. Amtrak is a national passenger rail operator managing more than 300 trains a day to more than 500 destinations in the United States and Canada. For several months beginning at the end of 2021, from an operational risk perspective, TSA assessed historical passenger data for travel within the Northeast corridor to determine the extent to which known or suspected terrorists may have traveled on Amtrak trains to assess whether watchlist matching should be considered as a rail security enhancement. To conduct the assessment, Amtrak provided TSA with rail passenger personally identifiable information (PII) for TSA to match against the Terrorist Screening Center’s (TSC) Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS),  commonly known as the “watchlist.” TSA now intends to assess passenger travel data on additional Amtrak rail routes and is updating this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to include Appendix A, which reflects all approved Amtrak rail routes for assessment. TSA is conducting this Privacy Impact Assessment update pursuant to the E-Government Act of 2002 because this assessment entails collection of personally identifiable information on members of the public for watchlist matching.

  • DHS/FEMA/PIA-002 9/11 Heroes Stamp Act of 2001 File System

     DHS/FEMA/PIA-002 9/11 Heroes Stamp Act of 2001 File System