Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Homeland Security Open Source Information Enhancement Act of 2008

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)The Internet has profoundly expanded the amount, significance, and accessibility of all types of information, but the Department of Homeland Security has not sufficiently expanded its use of such information to produce analytical products. (2)Open source products can be shared with Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement, the American public, the private sector, and foreign allies because of their unclassified nature. (3)The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for providing open source products to consumers consistent with existing Federal open source information guidelines.

Full and efficient use of open source information

(a)

In general

Subtitle A of title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

210F.

Full and efficient use of open source information

(a)

Responsibilities of Secretary

The Secretary shall establish an open source collection, analysis, and dissemination program within the Department. This program shall make full and efficient use of open source information to develop and disseminate open source intelligence products. (b)

Open source products

The Secretary shall ensure that among the open source products that the Department generates, there shall be a specific focus on open source products that— (1)analyze news and developments related to foreign terrorist organizations including how the threat of such organizations is relevant to homeland security; (2)analyze the risks and vulnerabilities to the Nation’s critical infrastructure; (3)analyze terrorist tactics and techniques to include recommendations on how to identify patterns of terrorist activity and behavior allowing State, local and tribal first responders to allocate resources appropriately; and (4)utilize, as appropriate, computer-based electronic visualization and animation tools that combine imagery, sound, and written material into unclassified open source intelligence products. (c)

Sharing results of analysis

The Secretary shall share the unclassified results of such analysis with appropriate Federal, State, local, tribal, and private-sector officials. (d)

Protection of privacy

The Secretary shall ensure that the manner in which open source information is gathered and disseminated by the Department complies with the Constitution, section 552a of title 5, United States Code (popularly known as the Privacy Act of 1974), provisions of law enacted by the E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–347), and all other relevant Federal laws. (e)

Inspector General report

The Inspector General of the Department shall audit the use and dissemination of open source information by the Department to evaluate the effectiveness of the Department’s activities and to ensure that it is consistent with the procedures established by the Secretary or a designee of the Secretary for the operation of the Department’s open source program and with Federal open source information and intelligence guidelines promulgated by the Director of National Intelligence. (f)

Open source information defined

In this section the term open source information means information that is publicly available and that can be used and disseminated in a timely manner to an appropriate audience for the purpose of addressing a specific homeland requirement. (g)

Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

(b)

Clerical amendment

The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such subtitle the following:

Sec. 210F. Full and efficient use of open source information.

Privacy and civil liberties impact assessment

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Privacy Officer and the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Chief Privacy Officer and Civil Liberties Protection Officer of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a privacy and civil liberties impact assessment of the Department of Homeland Security’s open source program, including information on the collection, analysis, and dissemination of any information on United States persons.

Open source information defined

In this Act the term open source information has the meaning that term has in section 203 of Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by this Act.