Privacy Impact Assessment Archives

A U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division officer assigned to the Special Operations Division K-9 Unit patrols outside the perimeter of the White House as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Secret Service reveals new surveillance system amid slowdown in privacy impact assessments

The Helix tool, which combines surveillance video, facial recognition tech and license plate data to monitor potential threats, is one of just a few PIAs posted by…

Aug 7, 2026 By Lindsey Wilkinson

U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Federal employees re-up lawsuit against OPM’s use of mass email server

The amended complaint also lists five additional pseudonymous plaintiffs who aren’t executive branch employees.

Feb 11, 2025 By Billy Mitchell

A screenshot of the first OPM test email sent to employees across the federal government Jan. 24.

Lawsuit claims systems behind OPM governmentwide email blast are illegal, insecure

A pair of whistleblowers believe the office skirted the law by not conducting a privacy impact assessment for an alleged “on-prem” server used to send mass emails…

Jan 28, 2025 By Billy Mitchell

(U.S. Customs and Border Protection / Flickr)

DHS employees might not know what personal information CDM collects or when it happens

Correcting inaccuracies and errors is another privacy risk, according to a department assessment.

Feb 14, 2020 By Dave Nyczepir

FEMA will monitor social media during disasters, to find victims

Stranded in a hurricane amid rising floodwaters? Just tweet about it. According a privacy impact assessment released last week by the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency…

May 2, 2016