I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5170 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for a privacy 

official within each component of the Department of Homeland Security, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2008 

Mr. CARNEY (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide 

for a privacy official within each component of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Home5 land Security Component Privacy Officer Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIVACY OFFICIAL WITHIN 

2 EACH COMPONENT OF DEPARTMENT OF 

3 HOMELAND SECURITY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title II of the Home5 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 141 et seq.) is amend6 ed by inserting after section 222 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 222A. PRIVACY OFFICIALS. 

8 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each component of the 

10 Department under paragraph (2), the Secretary 

11 shall designate a full-time privacy official, who shall 

12 report directly to the senior official appointed under 

13 section 222. Each such official shall have primary 

14 responsibility for privacy policy at that official’s 

15 component. 

16 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS.—The components of the 

17 Department referred to in this subparagraph are as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) The Transportation Security Admin20 istration. 

21 ‘‘(B) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immi22 gration Services. 

23 ‘‘(C) Customs and Border Protection. 

24 ‘‘(D) Immigration and Customs Enforce25 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(E) The Federal Emergency Management 

2 Agency. 

3 ‘‘(F) The Coast Guard. 

4 ‘‘(G) The Directorate of Science and Tech5 nology. 

6 ‘‘(H) The Office of Intelligence and Anal7 ysis. 

8 ‘‘(I) The Directorate for National Protec9 tion and Programs. 

10 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each privacy official des11 ignated under subsection (a) shall have the following re12 sponsibilities with respect to the component of the Depart13 ment for which that official is responsible: 

14 ‘‘(1) Advising the head of that component on 

15 privacy considerations when any law, regulation, 

16 program, policy, procedure, or guideline is proposed, 

17 developed, or implemented. 

18 ‘‘(2) Assuring that the use of technologies sus19 tain or enhance privacy protections relating to the 

20 use, collection, and disclosure of personal informa21 tion within the component. 

22 ‘‘(3) Assuring that personal information con23 tained in Privacy Act systems of records is handled 

24 in full compliance with section 552a of title 5, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Conducting privacy impact assessments, in 

2 conjunction with and under the direction of the sen3 ior official appointed under section 522, for any new 

4 or substantially changed program or technology that 

5 collects, maintains, or disseminates personally identi6 fiable information within the official’s component. 

7 ‘‘(5) Conducting privacy impact assessments, in 

8 conjunction with and under the direction of the sen9 ior official appointed under section 522, for pro10 posed rulemakings and regulations within the com11 ponent. 

12 ‘‘(6) Conducting supervision of programs, regu13 lations, policies, procedures, or guidelines to ensure 

14 the protection of privacy and, where necessary, pro15 mulgating guidelines and conducting oversight to en16 sure the protection of privacy. 

17 ‘‘(7) Providing the senior official appointed 

18 under section 222 with written materials and infor19 mation regarding the relevant activities of the com20 ponent or office that are needed by the senior offi21 cial to successfully prepare the reports the senior of22 ficial submits to Congress. 

23 ‘‘(c) ROLE OF COMPONENT HEADS.—The head of a 

24 component identified in subsection (a)(2) shall ensure that 


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1 the privacy official designated under subsection (a) for 

2 that component— 

3 ‘‘(1) has the information, material, and re4 sources necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of 

5 such official under this section; 

6 ‘‘(2) is advised of proposed policy changes and 

7 the development of new programs, rules, regulations, 

8 procedures, or guidelines during the planning stage 

9 and is included in the decision-making process; and 

10 ‘‘(3) is given access to material and personnel 

11 the privacy official deems necessary to carry out the 

12 official’s responsibilities.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

14 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after 

15 the item related to section 222 the following new item: 

‘‘222A. Privacy officials.’’. 

Æ 


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