DHS seeks to bridge siloed databases by Adam Mazmanian.
From the post:
The Department of Homeland Security plans to connect databases containing information on legal foreign visitors as a prototype of a system to consolidate identity information from agency sources. The prototype is a first step in what could turn into comprehensive records overhaul that would erase lines between the siloed databases kept by DHS component agencies.
Currently, DHS personnel can access information from across component databases under the “One DHS” policy, but access can be hindered by the need to log into multiple systems and make multiple queries. The Common Entity Index (CEI) prototype pulls biographical information from DHS component agencies and correlates the data into a single comprehensive record. The CEI prototype is designed to find linkages inside source data – names and addresses as well as unique identifiers like passport and alien registration numbers – and connect the dots automatically, so DHS personnel do not have to.
DHS is trying to determine whether it is feasible to create “a centralized index of select biographic information that will allow DHS to provide a consolidated and correlated record, thereby facilitating and improving DHS’s ability to carry out its national security, homeland security, law enforcement, and benefits missions,” according to a notice in the Aug. 23 Federal Register.
(…) (emphasis added)
Adam goes on to summarize the data sources that DHS wants to include in its “centralized index of select biographic information.”
There isn’t enough information in the Federal Register notice to support technical comments on the prototype.
However, some comments about subject identity and the role of topic maps in collating information from diverse resources would not be inappropriate.
Especially since all public comments are made visible at: http://www.regulations.gov.
[…] was reading the source document in: DHS Bridging Siloed Databases [Comments?] when I encountered a possible reason for the Snowden security breach. Records in this system are […]
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