More DHS components to receive Watchlist Service data from FBI

Two more Homeland Security Department components will receive direct updates from the FBI on individuals suspected of terrorist activity, according to a new DHS privacy impact assessment.

The assessment, dated Sept. 7, says that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis will join elements of the Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection and US-VISIT in receiving automated data from the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database.

DHS first announced in a privacy impact analysis dated July 14 that it will forward to some components data from the FBI database via a new service called the "DHS Watchlist Service," which synchronizes and copies the original database without changing it.

The service allows DHS "to move away from a manual and cumbersome process of data transmission and management to an automated and centralized process," stated the first assessment.

The specific initial recipients of the new automated service were identified as the TSA's Office of Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing; the TSA Secure Flight Program; CBP's Passenger Systems Program Office for inclusion in the Traveler Enforcement Compliance System; and US-VISIT for inclusion into the DHS Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).

However, the two new DHS components will not receive data immediately directly through the automated service, the new privacy impact assessment states. Rather, they will receive a "computer readable extract'" until a direct connection is established. That extract will be sent on an ad hoc basis, meaning that ICE and I&A could hold copies of the FBI database that are out of date. But even that will be "a significant improvement upon previous processes," the assessment states.

Further, it's not necessarily a pressing problem, according to the assessment, since those components will use the data for "analysis purposes." Should they decide to take action based on their analyses, they must first update their records on the individual in question with the most up-to-date information, the assessment states.

Data transferred as a computer readable extract must be erased within 90 days of transmission unless the information is required for a longer period, the assessment adds.

For more:
- download a copy of the Sept. 7 privacy impact assessment for the DHS Watchlist Service (.pdf)
- download a copy of the July 14 privacy impact assessment for the same service (.pdf)

Related Articles:
Government using NIEM schema to share No Fly and terrorist data
TSA tightens No Fly airline requirements
DHS: Shahzad was on TECS watch list