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PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT

Authority: 6 U.S.C. § 1140, 46 U.S.C. § 70105; 49 U.S.C. §§ 106, 114, 5103a, 40103(b)(3), 40113, 44903, 44935-44936, 44939, and 46105; the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, § 1520 (121 Stat. 444, Public Law 110-52, August 3, 2007); and Executive Order 9397, as amended.

Purpose: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will use your information to conduct a security threat assessment. Your information may be shared within DHS on a need-to-know basis in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b), including with the United States Coast Guard if you are applying for a Merchant Mariner Credential. Your facial biometric, collected during application, may also be used when you seek screening under the TSA PreCheck® Application Program at the airport. Additionally, biometrics collected from applicants to the TSA PreCheck® Application Program may also be used to conduct screening at airport checkpoints. Your fingerprints and associated information will be provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the purpose of comparing your fingerprints to other fingerprints in the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system or its successor systems including civil, criminal, and latent fingerprint repositories. The FBI may retain your fingerprints and associated information in NGI after the completion of this application and, while retained, your fingerprints may continue to be compared against other fingerprints submitted to or retained by NGI. DHS will also transmit your fingerprints for enrollment into Automated Biometrics Identification System (IDENT). If you provide your Social Security Number (SSN), DHS may provide your name and SSN to the Social Security Administration (SSA) to compare that information against SSA records to ensure the validity of the information.

Routine Uses: This system may disclose information in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(b), including as a routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) with third parties during the course of a security threat assessment, employment investigation, or adjudication of a waiver or appeal request to the extent necessary to obtain information pertinent to the assessment, investigation, or adjudication of your application under the TSA system of records notice (SORN) DHS/TSA 002, Transportation Security Threat Assessment System, or DHS/TSA 021, TSA PreCheck® Application Program for applicants to that program. Disqualifying criminal offenses uncovered during your application limit your ability to access TSA PreCheck® expedited screening. For as long as your fingerprints and associated information are retained in NGI, your information may be disclosed pursuant to your consent or without your consent as permitted by the Privacy Act of 1974 and all applicable Routine Uses as may be published at any time in the Federal Register, including the Routine Uses for the NGI system and the FBI’s Blanket Routine Uses.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information (including your SSN) is voluntary; however, if you do not provide your SSN or any other information requested, DHS may be unable to complete your application for a security threat assessment.

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT:

Statement of Public Burden: This is a voluntary collection of information, but failure to provide the information may result in an inability to approve your eligibility for the requested TSA program or benefit. TSA estimates that the total average burden per response associated with this collection for enrollment is approximately 30 minutes. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The control number for this collection is OMB 1652-0027, which expires 04/30/2022.