Lawmakers push back on proposed DHS data collection expansion
Nearly 50 House Democrats, led by New York’s Yvette Clarke, have urged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reconsider a proposed rule that would expand biometric data collection and its reuse across migration and naturalization processes. The lawmakers expressed concerns about the lack of meaningful detail on how DHS will secure, limit, or oversee the new datasets, and the absence of information on cybersecurity protections, retention limits, access controls, independent auditing, or transparency mechanisms. They warned of eroding privacy and public trust, citing recent breaches of biometric systems and the lack of safeguards. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register in November, aims to broaden DHS’s authorities by amending regulations governing biometrics use and collections and widening the scope. DHS has prioritized its overhaul of legacy biometric identification systems this year, centralizing control under the office of the CIO and modernizing its Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology system.
The expansion of biometric data collection for the department was introduced in a notice of proposed rulemaking published to the Federal Register in November. The proposal laid out plans to broaden DHS’s authorities by amending regulations governing biometrics use and collections and widening the scope
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“The proposed rule provides no meaningful detail on how DHS will secure, limit, or oversee the new and expansive datasets it would create,” the congressional members said in the December letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow. “It lacks information on cybersecurity protections, retention limits, access controls, independent auditing, or transparency mechanisms.”
An amended biometric entry-exit program regulation is slated to go into effect Dec. 26. The Notice of Final Rule published at the end of November highlighted the removal of prior exemptions for diplomats and most Canadian visitors as well as lessening limitations on pilot programs.
DHS says biometric technology is generally used to prevent identity fraud and support border operations, but lawmakers and advocacy groups continue to question the security of systems and established guardrails.
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