The letter was sent as a follow-up to a discussion between Secretary Mayorkas and letter signatories regarding concerns ranging from the Department’s policy on racial profiling to a lack of transparency around data collection and sharing to efforts to predict acts of domestic terrorism. Specifically the letter makes five requests of the Department, including to:
- Review and revise the Department’s non-discrimination and racial profiling guidance;
- Map and make public (1) the various kinds of information collected by the Department, (2) the legal authority for collection and retention, (3) the purposes for which it is used, (4) how it flows within the Department and to other agencies and foreign governments, and (5) the impact of that collection, retention, and sharing on civil rights and liberties;
- Review the Department’s widespread surveillance and use of social media;
- Assess the Department’s purchase and collection of data from third parties; and
- Critically evaluate the Department’s programs that claim to predict or prevent violence including domestic terrorism.
See below for the full letter.
Coalition Partners Send Letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Protecting Civil Rights… by The Brennan Center for Justice on Scribd
