The Homeland Security Department says it intends to make greater use of social media for the purpose of disseminating information.

In a privacy impact assessment dated March 8, DHS says it's doing so in order to comply with the Obama administration open government and transparency push. Among the social media technologies it intends to embrace are mobile apps, webpage widgets, SMS messages, podcasts, online streaming and RSS feeds.

DHS will set up accounts with third party application and service providers (with DHS ownership clearly identified) and use the technology to inform the public on a range of topics. They include airport security, access to federal buildings, disaster preparedness, transportation security, pandemic outbreaks, border access and security, and anything else related to public safety.

The technologies will be "unilateral" in direction, the privacy impact statement says; DHS will not receive information through them save for information necessary to make the technology work. For example, signing up for widget used to broadcast alerts about local emergencies will require the user to input a zip code.

DHS already published in September 2010 a privacy impact assessment (.pdf) on DHS usage of social networking websites. In that assessment, DHS said it would also not actively collect any personally identifiable information, only use the minimum amount of PII necessary, and not make any friend requests except to other governmental organizations without a waiver form the privacy office.

For more:
- download the March 8, 2011 DHS privacy impact assessment on unilateral social media (.pdf)
- download the September 2011 DHS privacy impact statement on social media networking (.pdf)

Related Articles:
Social media increasingly important for emergency response, but falling short of true collaboration 
Social media not easy for U.S. embassies 
Report: Muslim extremist terrorist groups find Western converts with social media