Publisher's Synopsis
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy Office (DHS Privacy Office or Office) is providing this report to Congress pursuant to Section 804 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (9/11 Commission Act), entitled the Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting Act of 2007 (Data Mining Reporting Act or the Act). This report discusses activities currently deployed or under development in the Department that meet the Data Mining Reporting Act's definition of data mining, and provides the information set out in the Act's reporting requirements for data mining activities. In the 2011 DHS Data Mining Report, the DHS Privacy Office discussed the following Department programs that engage in data mining, as defined by the Data Mining Reporting Act: (1) The Automated Targeting System (ATS), which is administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and includes modules for inbound (ATS-N) and outbound (ATS-AT) cargo, land border crossings (ATS-L), and passengers (ATS-P); and (2) The Data Analysis and Research for Trade Transparency System (DARTTS), which is administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This year's report, covering the period December 2011 through December 2012, presents the complete descriptions of ATS-N, ATS-AT, ATS-L, ATS-P, and DARTTS provided in the 2011 DHS Data Mining Report, with updates on modifications, additions, and other developments that have occurred in the current reporting year, including use of ATS by DHS components other than CBP. In addition, the DHS Privacy Office has identified two new uses of ATS that are discussed below: the vetting of non-immigrant and immigrant visa applications in ATS-P for the U.S. Department of State; and the United States Coast Guard's Interagency Operations Center ATS-Enhanced Watchkeeper System. The 2011 Report included a brief summary of CBP's Analytical Framework for Intelligence (AFI), which was then in development. This year's report includes a detailed description of AFI as an operational system. Additional information on DARTTS and on the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Secure Flight Program's use of ATS is being provided separately to Congress in two annexes to this report that contain Law Enforcement Sensitive Information and Sensitive Security Information, respectively. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended (Homeland Security Act), expressly authorizes the Department to use data mining, among other analytical tools, in furtherance of its mission. DHS exercises its authority to engage in data mining in the programs discussed in this report, all of which the DHS Chief Privacy Officer has reviewed for potential impact on privacy. The Chief Privacy Officer's authority for reviewing DHS data mining activities stems from three principal sources: the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act); the E-Government Act of 2002 (E-Government Act); and Section 222 of the Homeland Security Act, which states that the Chief Privacy Officer is responsible for "assuring that the [Department's] use of technologies sustains, and does not erode, privacy protections relating to the use, collection, and disclosure of personal information."
