NOFO and COE Privacy Certificate.docx

Privacy Certificate Template DHS uses the information in the Privacy Certificate to determine if there are any risks to the personally identifiable information (PII) of the individuals whose PII is collected, and to assess whether sufficient steps have been taken to mitigate those risks. In cases where the risk of violating an individual’s privacy are high, DHS may request additional information and/or recommend consideration of additional mitigation measures. The assessment performed by S&T and DHS privacy officials is based on the Fair Information Practice Principles.[footnoteRef:1] [1: See DHS Policy Directive 140-03, The Fair Information Practice Principles: Framework for Privacy Policy at the Department of Homeland Security at https://www.dhs.gov/publication/privacy-policy-guidance-memorandum-2008-01-fair-information-practice-principles (or click here).]

KEY TERMS:

· Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Personally identifiable information (PII) is defined as “any information that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information that is linked or linkable to that individual, regardless of whether the individual is a U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident, visitor to the U.S., or employee or contractor to the Department.” PII includes an individual’s social media handles (e.g., a Twitter handle).

· Sensitive PII (or sensitive information) is PII that if lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization, could result in substantial harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to an individual. More information can be found in the DHS Handbook for Safeguarding Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information, available at https://www.dhs.gov/publication/handbook-safeguarding-sensitive-personally-identifiable-information. Sensitive PII may include but is not limited to social security numbers; biometrics; geolocation information (including IP addresses and geolocation mobile app data); electronic device data; and PII related to individuals engaged in Constitutionally protected speech, expressions, associations, and worship.

TEMPLATE FOR A PRIVACY CERTIFICATE

Funding recipient, , certifies that performers requiring access to privacy sensitive data identifiable to a private person pursuant to a grant or cooperative agreement, will agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the notification to which they applied. This Privacy Certificate is being completed in accordance with the S&T Financial Assistance Agreements Privacy Policy for Funded Research in addition to other applicable DHS privacy policies, including DHS Directive No. 047-01, “Privacy Policy and Compliance” and DHS Directive No. 140-06, “Privacy Policy for Research Programs and Projects.”[footnoteRef:2] [2: See DHS Directive 140-06 Privacy Policy for research Programs at https://www.dhs.gov/publication/privacy-policy-research-programs-and-projects-directive-140-06. See also DHS directive 047-01, https://www.dhs.gov/publication/privacy-policy-and-compliance-directive-047-01.]

☐ Update

Brief Description of Project:

Enter description in a text box or attach a separate sheet

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Please describe how you provide notice to the public that you are engaging in a research activity that may involve the collection of PII from members of the public.

Enter description in a text box or attach a separate sheet. This information responds to the transparency and individual participation principles.

Please select all types of sensitive PII that may be collected as part of this effort.

☐ Social Security number ☐ Alien Number (A-Number) ☐ Tax Identification Number ☐ Visa Number ☐ Passport Number ☐ Bank Account, Credit Card, or other financial account number ☐ Social Media Handle/ID ☐ Driver’s License/State ID Number ☐ Geolocation Data linked to an individual (including IP addresses and geolocation mobile app data) ☐ Biometrics. Please list modalities (e.g., fingerprints, DNA, iris scans).______________________________________ ☐ Basic Biographic Data (name, title, address, phone number, email address) ☐ Data not listed above that may be linked, or is linkable, to an individual ☐ None of the above

Explain the selections made above in a text box or on separate sheets. List here other types of data that may identify an individual. This information responds to the data minimization principle.

Describe any other types of data, not addressed above, that will be collected as part of this effort. If applicable, explain steps that will be taken to address the incidental collection of PII.

NOTE: If the project includes the collection of PII, please include from whom the project will collect PII. Explain if the collection includes the data of sensitive populations (e.g., victims of crime, victims of human trafficking, refugees, asylees). Some PII may be collected with little concern because it has a low risk of harm to the individual, such as the PII in citations and in newspaper articles. Other PII may be particularly harmful if not adequately protected, such as social security numbers and biometric information. The Department balances privacy risks and mitigation measures against the need for research and efficacy of the proposed research approach.

Enter description and explanation in a text box or attach separate sheets. This information responds to the data minimization principle.

From what sources will the data be collected? (Select all that apply)

☐ Newspaper/magazine articles (mass market) ☐ Academic/professional journals/conference proceedings ☐ Commercial (purchased) data ☐ Publicly available social media information (performers may not employ deceptive or covert practices to collect data) ☐ Acknowledge that the use of false identities on publicly available social media requires approval by the principal investigator ☐ Publicly available State or local government agency records ☐ Non-DHS Publicly available federal data ☐ DHS data ☐ Focus groups/interviews ☐ Publicly available information provided by researchers or through publicly accessible data archives ☐ The dark web ☐ Other sources _____________________________________________________________

How will data be collected from these sources? Please be specific.

Enter explanation in a text box or attach separate sheets. This information responds to the use limitation and the data quality and integrity principles.

How will the data be used? Please include in this description the types or methods of analysis that will be conducted.

Enter description in a text box or attach separate sheets. This information responds to the use limitation principle.

NOTE: Is this a project involving pattern-based queries, searches, or other analyses of one or more electronic databases, where: (A) a department or agency of the Federal Government, or a non-Federal entity acting on behalf of the Federal Government, is conducting the queries, searches, or other analyses to discover or locate a predictive pattern or anomaly indicative of terrorist or criminal activity on the part of any individual or individuals; (B) the queries, searches, or other analyses are not subject-based and do not use personal identifiers of a specific individual, or inputs associated with a specific individual or group of individuals, to retrieve information from the database or databases; and (C) the purpose of the queries, searches, or other analyses is not solely: (i) the detection of fraud, waste, or abuse in a Government agency or program; or (ii) the security of a Government computer system?

If you responded “yes” expand upon your response in a text box or attach separate sheets. If you have more text than will fit in a text box, attach a separate sheet. Projects very rarely conduct activity that meets this definition of data mining. Responses to this question are for reporting purposes only

Describe procedures to anonymize data to ensure the confidentiality of personally identifiable information, including the use of any privacy enhancing technologies.

Enter description in a text box or attach a separate sheet. This information responds to the security principle.

Please list any formal (written) information sharing and access agreements (ISAAs) that enable PII to be shared with entities outside your institution/employer, whether through memoranda of understanding/agreement (MOU/MOA), letters of intent (LOI), or similar documents.

If applicable, enter list in a text box or attach a separate sheet. This information responds to the accountability and auditing principle.

Name and title of individual with the authority to transfer data containing PII:

Access to data is restricted to the following individuals (Principal Investigator; Project Staff; Contractors, Subcontractors, and Consultants). Attach additional sheets if needed

Do personnel participating in the research program receive training on how to protect PII?

☐ Yes (Optional, if yes, please describe below) ☐ No

If applicable, describe training in a text box or on a separate sheet. Information provided helps determine if identified risks have been mitigated through training, it is also responsive to the FIPPs collectively

Explain how the project ensures the physical and administrative security of PII:

Enter the explanation in a text box or attach a separate sheet. This information responds to the security principle.

If any data being is being stored outside of U.S. jurisdiction, please explain below.

Enter explanation in a text box or attach a separate sheet. This information responds to the security principle.

Provide a description of plans for data dissemination and project deliverables:

Provide a description in a text box or on a separate sheet. Include in description whether you have a mechanism to track external disclosures of an individual’s PII. This information responds to the accountability and auditing principle.

Procedures for the final disposition of data:

Describe the procedures in a text box or attach a separate sheet. This information responds to the accountability and auditing principle.

Name and title of individual(s) authorized to determine the final disposition of data:

Name

Title

Name

Title

Enter description in a text box or attach a separate sheet. This information responds to the accountability and auditing and the purpose specification principles.

Supplemental Information I

Note: information provided in this section is not used to evaluate the Privacy Certificate.

Is this project undergoing a review through an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?[footnoteRef:3] [3: DHS does not require a copy of the IRB package as part of the Privacy Certificate; those go through a separate process at DHS.]

☐ Yes ☐ No

Supplemental Information II

Note: information in this section is not used to evaluate the Privacy Certificate.

· If you answered no to the question above, skip to the Certifications section below.

Describe how individuals will be protected from inappropriate or irrelevant data use in the design, development, and deployment of automated systems, and from the compounded harm of its reuse.

Provide a description in a text box or on a separate sheet.

Affirm that individuals will not face discrimination by algorithms and systems and that they will be designed in an equitable way. Please Explain.

Provide a description in a text box or on a separate sheet.

Affirm that individuals will be protected from abusive data practices via built-in protections and will have agency over how data about them is used. Please explain.

Provide a description in a text box or on a separate sheet.

Affirm that individuals will know that an automated system is being used and understand how and why it contributes to outcomes that impact them. Please explain.

Provide a description in a text box or on a separate sheet.

Explain if individuals will be able to opt out, where appropriate, and have access to a person who can quickly consider, and remedy problems individuals encounter.

Provide a description in a text box or on a separate sheet.

Certifications

1. Funding recipient certifies that project plans will be designed to preserve the confidentiality of private persons to whom information relates, including where appropriate, name-stripping, coding of data, or other similar procedures.

2. Funding recipient certifies that the procedures described above are correct and shall be carried out.

3. Funding recipient certifies that all project personnel, including subcontractors, have been advised of and have agreed, in writing, to comply with all procedures outlined in this privacy certificate.

4. Funding recipient certifies that access to PII will be limited to those employees having a need for such data and that such employees shall be advised of the DHS privacy requirements included in the award.

5. Funding recipient certifies that DHS shall be notified of any material change in any of the information provided in this Privacy Certificate.

6. Funding recipient certifies that project findings and reports prepared for public release will not contain raw data that includes personally identifiable information.

Signature (s):

The Privacy Office U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2707 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, DC 20528

The Fair Information Practice Principles

DHS issued Privacy Policy Guidance Memorandum 2008-01 on December 29, 2008, memorializing the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs) as the foundational principles for privacy policy and implementation at DHS. The eight FIPPs form the basis of the Department’s privacy compliance policies and procedures governing the use of personally identifiable information (PII). The FIPPs, as follows, are embedded into DHS privacy sensitive systems, programs, and information sharing arrangements and are derived from the Privacy Act and other federal and international privacy guidelines.

Transparency: DHS should be transparent and provide notice to the individual regarding its collection, use, dissemination, and maintenance of personally identifiable information (PII).

Individual Participation: DHS should involve the individual in the process of using PII and, to the extent practicable, seek individual consent for the collection, use, dissemination, and maintenance of PII. DHS should also provide mechanisms for appropriate access, correction, and redress regarding DHS’s use of PII.

Purpose Specification: DHS should specifically articulate the authority that permits the collection of PII and specifically articulate the purpose or purposes for which the PII is intended to be used.

Data Minimization: DHS should only collect PII that is directly relevant and necessary to accomplish the specified purpose(s) and only retain PII for as long as is necessary to fulfill the specified purpose(s).

Use Limitation: DHS should use PII solely for the purpose(s) specified in the notice. Sharing PII outside the Department should be for a purpose compatible with the purpose for which the PII was collected.

Data Quality and Integrity: DHS should, to the extent practicable, ensure that PII is accurate, relevant, timely, and complete.

Security: DHS should protect PII (in all media) through appropriate security safeguards against risks such as loss, unauthorized access or use, destruction, modification, or unintended or inappropriate disclosure.

Accountability and Auditing: DHS should be accountable for complying with these principles, providing training to all employees and contractors who use PII, and auditing the actual use of PII to demonstrate compliance with these principles and all applicable privacy protection requirements.

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