Data Mining Report: DHS Privacy Office Response to House Report 108-774

Citation: Data Mining Report: DHS Privacy Office Response to House Report 108-774 (July 6, 2006).

This was the first annual report by the DHS Privacy Office of the DHS's data mining activities (the "2006 Report"). The 2006 Report was prepared pursuant to the requirements of "House Report 108-774 – Making Appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2005, and for Other Purposes" The 2006 Report used a definition of data mining derived from definitions used by the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office. It provided a description of the process of data mining, and set out the privacy concerns raised by the use of data mining technologies for homeland security. It identified specific data mining activities and programs at DHS and provided information related to their purpose, data sources, and deployment dates.

The 2006 Report also described the policies, procedures, and guidance that applied to each data mining activity identified. Looking forward, the 2006 Report made a number of recommendations aimed specifically at addressing privacy concerns DHS data mining activities might raise.