DHS/CBP/PIA-080 CBP Commercial Telemetry Data Evaluation

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is conducting this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to describe its evaluation of commercially available location data associated with mobile smart devices (“commercial telemetry data”) for a period between December 2018 and September 2023. During this time, a small number of users in CBP queried smart device location data owned and maintained by commercial vendors to assess the limited use of commercial telemetry data in support of its border security mission. DHS is conducting this Privacy Impact Assessment to provide public notice about the short-term collection of commercial telemetry data.

CBP no longer collects commercial telemetry data owned and maintained by commercial vendors, though it continues to use the commercial telemetry data retained from its past use of vendors. This Privacy Impact Assessment examines the privacy risks and mitigation measures associated with CBP’s collection and use of commercial telemetry data during the evaluation period and describes the ways in which CBP ensured its access and use of this information sustained and did not erode individual privacy protections. It also assesses any potential privacy risks related to CBP’s continued use of commercial telemetry data retained from the now-ended engagement with commercial vendors. Should CBP begin using these services in the future, a new Privacy Impact Assessment will be published prior to the collection of such data. August 2024

Associated SORN(s):

DHS/CBP-024 CBP Intelligence Record System