DHS/ALL/PIA-095 International Biometric Information Sharing Program (IBIS)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS or the Department), Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (PLCY) in cooperation with DHS Components, created the International Biometric Information Sharing Program (IBIS) to support DHS Components and foreign partners in assessing the eligibility or public security risk of individuals seeking an immigration benefit in the context of a border encounter or law enforcement investigation related to immigration or border security issues. DHS created IBIS to improve the Department’s and its foreign partners’ ability to establish more definitively the identity and assess eligibility of an individual presenting for an immigration benefit or when encountered by DHS law enforcement in border and immigration related contexts. The ability of biometric information sharing to support law enforcement investigations and immigration benefit decisions has been validated in DHS’s current international partnerships, which have assisted foreign partners in detecting identity fraud, foreign criminals who have not disclosed their prior criminal activity and known or suspected terrorists (KST). This Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) Update considers the privacy risks and applicable mitigation strategies associated with implementing this Departmental program in cases where partners permit DHS to retain all biometric enrollments regardless of a match to an existing DHS record, as this additional collection differs from the scope covered by the original IBIS Privacy Impact Assessment.