DHS Privacy Office - Privacy Workshops

Government 2.0: Privacy and Best Practices

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy Office held a public workshop on June 22-23, 2009 to bring together leading academic, private-sector, and public sector experts to discuss the privacy issues posed by government use of social media. The purpose of the workshop was to help federal agencies to engage the public through social media in a privacy-protective manner and to explore best practices that agencies can use to implement President Obama’s January 21, 2009, Transparency and Open Government Memorandum.

The workshop consisted of a series of presentations and panel discussions that included the broad range of stakeholder perspectives. Panelists discussed such issues as the benefits of social media to expand transparency and participation in government; the privacy and related legal issues raised by government use of social media; and how government can best harness these new technologies while protecting privacy.

Workshop Details

• Federal Register Notice
• Agenda (PDF, 5 pages - 175 KB)
• The Privacy Office has extended the deadline for filing comments in connection with the Government 2.0 Workshop to July 10, 2009. We welcome your comments on any of the issues listed in the Federal Register Notice announcing the workshop or any other related issues growing out of presentations at the workshop. Comments will be posted on this Web site in their entirety, including any personal information included in the comments. Please send your comments to privacyworkshop@dhs.gov
• Comments Received:
  • Bennie G. Thompson, Committee on Homeland Security (PDF, 4 pages - 198 KB)
  • Deborah Caldwell-Stone, American Library Association (PDF, 3 pages - 25 KB)
  • Lille Coney, Electric Privacy Information Center (PDF, 16 pages - 217 KB)
  • Harriet P. Pearson, IBM (PDF, 8 pages - 324 KB)
  • Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. (PDF, 4 pages - 128 KB)
• Workshop Transcripts
  • June 22, 2009 (PDF, 259 pages - 401 KB)
  • June 23, 2009 (PDF, 175 pages - 346 KB)
• Government 2.0: Privacy and Best Practices Report on the DHS Privacy Office Public Workshop, June 22 and 23, 2009 (PDF, 38 pages - 372 KB)

Please contact privacyworkshop@dhs.gov to receive the corresponding documents.

Previous Workshops

• Privacy Compliance Fundamentals - PTAs, PIAs, and SORNS (June 10, 2009)
• Implementing Privacy Protections in Government Data Mining (July 24-25, 2008)
• Privacy Compliance Fundamentals - PTAs, PIAs and SORNS (May 23, 2008)
• DHS Privacy Office Public Workshop CCTV: Developing Privacy Best Practices (December 17-18, 2007)
• Privacy Impact Assessments at DHS – A Tutorial on How to Write PIAs (May 23, 2007)
• Operationalizing Privacy: Compliance Frameworks & Privacy Impact Assessments (June 15, 2006)
• Transparency and Accountability: The Use of Personal Information within the Government (April 5, 2006)
• Privacy and Technology: Government Use of Commercial Data for Homeland Security (September 8 – 9, 2005)

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