Terrorist Identification, Screening, and Tracking Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6

Publication Date: April 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

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Abstract:

In Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6), the Administration announced plans to establish a Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), as a multi-agency effort to be administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where several watch lists are being consolidated into a single terrorist screening database (TSDB). The TSC is the latest of three multi-agency efforts undertaken by the Administration to better identify, screen, and track known terrorists, suspected terrorists, and their supporters. The other two are the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force (FTTTF) and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC). According to the Administration, the TSC complements the FBI-led FTTTF’s efforts to prevent terrorists from entering the United States, and to track and remove them if they manage to enter the country. The TTIC serves as a single locale where terrorism-threat data from all sources are further analyzed to more critically focus on terrorism.

Certain terrorist identification and watch list functions previously performed by the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) have been transferred to the TTIC and TSC under HSPD-6. At the TTIC, intelligence analysts are building a Terrorist Identities Database (TID) based on TIPOFF — the U.S. government’s principal terrorist watch list database prior to HSPD-6. From TID records, TSC analysts are building a consolidated TSDB. The Administration plans to widen access to, and use of, lookout records by making them available in a “sensitive but unclassified” format to authorized federal, state, local, territorial and tribal authorities; to certain private sector entities; and to certain foreign governments.

Merging watch lists will not likely require integrating entire systems, but there are likely to be technological impediments to merging watch list records. From system to system, and watch list to watch list, there remains no standardization of data elements, such as, name, date of birth, place of birth, nationality, or biometric identifiers. While elevating and expanding the terrorist identification and watch list function is an important step in the wider war on terrorism, additional work will remain to upgrade and integrate other consular and border management systems, criminal history record systems, and biometric systems.

HSPD-6 presents significant opportunities to more effectively share data and increase security, but there are risks as well, not the least of which is the potential loss of privacy and the erosion of civil liberties. In recent hearings, Members of Congress have raised several related issues. For example, is the TSDB fast, accurate, comprehensive, and accessible? Have procedures been established to allow persons, who may be misidentified as terrorists or terrorist supporters, some form of redress and remedy if they are denied civil rights or unduly inconvenienced by a screening agency? Does the establishment of the TSDB require new guidelines and oversight mechanisms to protect privacy and other civil liberties? Or, are existing agency policies under which such data is collected sufficient? Is the FBI the best agency to administer the TSDB? Are the TSC and TSDB, and by extension the TTIC, temporary or permanent solutions? This report will be updated as needed.