Government use of commercial data for homeland security purposes

6 August 2005
Source: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html

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[Federal Register: August 5, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 150)]
[Notices]
[Page 45408-45409]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05au05-68]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary


Public Workshop: Privacy and Technology: Government Use of
Commercial Data for Homeland Security

AGENCY: Privacy Office, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notice announcing public workshop.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office will host a
public workshop, ``Privacy and Technology: Government Use of Commercial
Data for Homeland Security,'' to explore the policy, legal, and
technology issues associated with the government's use of personally
identifiable commercial data in protecting the homeland.

DATES: The workshop will be held on September 8, 2005, from 8 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. and on September 9, 2005, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The Privacy and Technology Workshop will be held in the
auditorium at the DHS Offices at the GSA Regional Headquarters Building
located at 7th and D Streets, SW., Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toby Milgrom Levin, Robyn Kaplan,
Kenneth Mortensen, or Peter Sand at Privacy Workshop, Privacy Office,
Department of Homeland Security, Arlington, VA 22202, by telephone 571-
227-3813, by facsimile 571-227-4171, or by e-mail at
privacyworkshop@dhs.gov privacyworkshop@dhs.gov>.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Workshop Goals

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy Office is holding

[[Page 45409]]

a public workshop to explore the policy, legal, and technology issues
surrounding the government's use of personally identifiable commercial
data for homeland security. The program will include a broad range of
experts and perspectives, including representatives from academia,
business leaders, privacy advocates, legal experts, technologists, and
policy leaders. In addition to the panel discussions, time will be
allotted during the workshop for questions and comments from the
audience that may be directed to each panel.

Reason for the Workshop

The government's use of technology to access and analyze vast
amounts of personally identifiable data collected by companies and data
aggregators raises important privacy concerns. The DHS Privacy Office
is holding this workshop to inform the Privacy Office, DHS, and the
public about the policy, legal, and technology issues surrounding the
government's access and use of such information for counterterrorism
and how to protect privacy given the government's need for better data
analysis.
Commercially available personal information ranges from directory
information, such as individual names, addresses, and telephone
numbers, to records of retail purchases, including travel, insurance,
and financial data, to public record information obtained from Federal,
state, and local offices, including court documents, professional
licenses, and property records.
A number of reports have been issued urging that the government
adopt standards for using such information for intelligence analysis,
including the Department of Defense, Technology and Privacy Advisory
Committee (TAPAC) Report and the two reports of the Markle Foundation's
Task Force on National Security in the Information Age.\1\ This
workshop is intended to provide a forum for considering such standards
as well as for examining whether and how information technology and
commercial data can help improve national security. Finally, the
workshop will look at technologies to aid in data analysis and
information management that are more privacy protective.
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\1\ Technology and Privacy Advisory Commission, Safeguarding
Privacy in the Fight Against Terrorism (2004) available at http://www.sainc.com/tapac/finalreport.htm
; Markle Foundation, Task Force

on National Security in the Information Age, Creating a Trusted
Information Network for Homeland Security (2003); Markle Foundation,
Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, Protecting
American's Freedom in the Information Age (2002). The Markle reports
are available at http://www.markle.org .

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The Workshop

The program will begin with a discussion of how government agencies
are using personally identifiable commercial data in homeland security.
Among the questions that we may examine are: What types of personally
identifiable commercial data are being used; what are the benefits of
using such data; what commercial data is needed to help identify
terrorists; can commercial data be used to reduce the incidence of
false positives, and if so, what data is needed to do so; and how
accurate is commercial data for such purposes.
The second topic will address the privacy and legal issues raised
by government use of commercial data. This panel will explore the
adequacy of current laws, particularly the Privacy Act of 1974, to
protect against government abuses when using commercial data. The panel
will also examine the privacy implications of government's use of
commercial data and whether there should be any limitations or
protections. The panel may also discuss whether there are international
laws and standards that can provide models for protecting privacy in
this context.
The third panel will focus on current and developing technologies
to aid the government in analyzing data for homeland security. This
panel will examine the technologies government agencies are using to
access and process data and whether such uses raise privacy concerns.
The panel may also discuss how to evaluate the quality of such
technologies, the accuracy of the underlying data, and whether further
research is needed before agencies invest in such technologies.
The fourth panel will examine how technology can help protect
individual privacy while enabling government agencies to analyze data.
This panel will review privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) that
enable data analysis without disclosing the identity of individuals by
using de-identified or anonymized data. In addition, the technologists
will discuss how matching, linking, and knowledge discovery can be done
in a more privacy-sensitive manner.
The final panel will build on the discussion of the previous panels
to develop a recommended roadmap for DHS on building privacy
protections into information programs that use commercial data. This
closing panel will discuss options concerning privacy protective rules
and standards DHS can adopt without waiting for changes in law. The
panel may also consider how technology can be used as a governance tool
to ensure that the agency's privacy polices are implemented.

Registration Information

The workshop is open to the public and there is no fee for
attendance. For general security purposes, all attendees will be
required to show a valid form of photo identification, such as a
driver's license, to enter the building.
The Privacy Office will accept registration for this workshop.
Registration is not necessary to attend, but is encouraged so that we
may better plan this event. To register, please send an e-mail to the
e-mail box for the workshop, privacyworkshop@dhs.gov , indicating your
intent to attend. The Privacy Office will not retain your e-mail or e-
mail address. For additional information, including routine uses
permitted by the Privacy Act, see the DHS Privacy Policy on the DHS Web
site at http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/privacy.jsp .

The Privacy Office will post additional information about the
workshop, including a detailed agenda, on the DHS Privacy Office Web
site at http://www.dhs.gov/privacy prior to the event. A transcript of

the workshop will be posted shortly after the workshop.

Dated: July 25, 2005.
Nuala O'Connor Kelly,
Chief Privacy Officer Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 05-15488 Filed 8-4-05; 8:45 am]

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