Pta

Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

PRIVACY THRESHOLD ANALYSIS (PTA)
This form serves as the official determination by the DHS Privacy Office to
identify the privacy compliance requirements for all Departmental uses of
personally identifiable information (PII).
A Privacy Threshold Analysis (PTA) serves as the document used to identify
information technology (IT) systems, information collections/forms, technologies,
rulemakings, programs, information sharing arrangements, or pilot projects that involve
PII and other activities that otherwise impact the privacy of individuals as determined by
the Chief Privacy Officer, pursuant to Section 222 of the Homeland Security Act, and to
assess whether there is a need for additional Privacy Compliance Documentation. A PTA
includes a general description of the IT system, information collection, form, technology,
rulemaking, program, pilot project, information sharing arrangement, or other Department
activity and describes what PII is collected (and from whom) and how that information is
used and managed.
Please complete the attached Privacy Threshold Analysis and submit it to your
component Privacy Office. After review by your component Privacy Officer the PTA is sent
to the Department’s Senior Director for Privacy Compliance for action. If you do not have a
component Privacy Office, please send the PTA to the DHS Privacy Office:
Senior Director, Privacy Compliance
The Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
Tel: 202-343-1717
PIA@hq.dhs.gov

Upon receipt from your component Privacy Office, the DHS Privacy Office will review this
form and assess whether any privacy compliance documentation is required. If compliance
documentation is required – such as Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), System of Records
Notice (SORN), Privacy Act Statement, or Computer Matching Agreement (CMA) – the DHS
Privacy Office or component Privacy Office will send you a copy of the relevant compliance
template to complete and return.
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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

Privacy Threshold Analysis (PTA)

Specialized Template for
Information Collections (IC) and Forms
The Forms-PTA is a specialized template for Information Collections and Forms. This
specialized PTA must accompany all Information Collections submitted as part of the
Paperwork Reduction Act process (any instrument for collection (form, survey,
questionnaire, etc.) from ten or more members of the public). Components may use this PTA
to assess internal, component-specific forms as well.
Form Number:
Form Title:
Component:

National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness
Federal Emergency
Office:
Office of Resilience,
Management Agency
National Preparedness
(FEMA)
Directorate, Individual

IF COVERED BY THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT:
Collection Title:
National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness
January 31, 2021
OMB Control
1660-0105
OMB Expiration
Number:
Date:
Collection status:
Revision
Date of last PTA (if
June 13, 2017
applicable):
Name:
Office:

Phone:
Name:
Office:

PROJECT OR PROGRAM MANAGER
Joseph Faulk
Individual and Community Title:
Preparedness Data Lead
Preparedness Division
202-716-0478
Email:
joseph.faulk@fema.dhs.gov

COMPONENT INFORMATION COLLECTION/FORMS CONTACT
Kevin Crosby
Information Management
Title:
Government Information
Division
Specialist

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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

Phone:

202-550-6482
Email:
Kevin.crosby@fema.dhs.gov
SPECIFIC IC/Forms PTA QUESTIONS

1. Purpose of the Information Collection or Form
This PTA is being submitted for the renewal of FEMA’s use of its National Household Survey
on Disaster Preparedness, previously referred to as the Community Preparedness and
Participation Survey (FEMA Form 008-0-15) per the three-year expiration. Since the last PTA,
approved by DHS on June 13, 2017, FEMA added a webform to the collection to increase
efficiencies and a question bank from which to draw questions for each iteration There are no
additional changes to this collection.
The Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD) works to strengthen the Nation’s
resilience by preparing individuals, organizations, and communities for any disaster or
emergency. To execute its mission, ICPD conducts research to better understand effective
preparedness actions and ways to motivate the public to take those actions. ICPD also develops
and shares preparedness resources based upon its research.
ICPD analyzes and uses data collected in FEMA Form 008-0-15, National Household Survey on
National Preparedness, to identify progress and gaps in individual and community preparedness
and participation and to better understand the motivators and barriers to preparedness in general
and about specific hazards (e.g., hurricanes, floods, wildfires). The survey measures the public’s
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors relative to preparing for a range of hazards.
The National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness does not collect personally
identifiable information (PII) from the public. ICPD hires contractors to conduct the surveys
online and over the phone using electronic forms.
For phone interview, the contractor will fill in the answers to the survey. For web-based
interviews, the respondents will complete the survey on their own. The contractor identifies the
pool of respondents based on FEMA’s needs to obtain a viable representation of disaster
preparedness throughout the U.S. including tribes and territories that will be used to conduct the
anonymous survey. In addition to responses for the subject matter (preparedness), the survey
collects data from various demographics. The surveys are specifically designed to be
anonymous and NO information is collected which may convert the data to PII(names, SSN,
DOB, etc.). FEMA only receives and/or retains the survey responses (consolidated dataset) and
any data analysis for the purposes stated above.
The datasets are used for analysis. FEMA will publish the survey results and the dataset on
OpenFEMA. The analysis, survey results, and data sets are not deleted.

a. List the DHS (or component) authorities to collect, store, and use this information.
If this information will be stored and used by a specific DHS component, list the
component-specific authorities.
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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

The Stafford Act, Title VI, Emergency Preparedness (42 U.S.C. 5195-5195(a)) identifies the
purpose of emergency preparedness “for the protection of life and property in the United States
from hazards.” It directs that the Federal Government “provide necessary direction, coordination,
and guidance” as authorized for a comprehensive emergency preparedness system for all hazards.
Emergency preparedness is defined as all “activities and measures designed or undertaken to
prepare or minimize the effects of a hazard upon the civilian population….” The “conduct of
research” is among the measures to be undertaken in preparation for hazards.
Presidential Policy Directive-8 (PPD-8) directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to “coordinate
a comprehensive campaign to build and sustain national preparedness, including public outreach
and community-based and private sector programs to enhance national resilience, the provision of
Federal financial assistance, preparedness efforts by the Federal Government, and national
research and development efforts.”

2. Describe the IC/Form
a. Does this form collect any
Personally Identifiable
Information” (PII 1)?

b. From which type(s) of
individuals does this form
collect information?
(Check all that apply.)

c. Who will complete and
submit this form? (Check
all that apply.)

☐ Yes
☒ No

☒ Members of the public
☒ U.S. citizens or lawful permanent
residents
☒ Non-U.S. Persons.
☐ DHS Employees
☐ DHS Contractors
☐ Other federal employees or contractors.

☒ The record subject of the form (e.g., the
individual applicant).
☐ Legal Representative (preparer, attorney,
etc.).
☐ Business entity.
If a business entity, is the only
information collected business contact
information?

1
Personally identifiable information means any information that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including
any other information which is linked or linkable to that individual regardless of whether the individual is a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident,
visitor to the U.S., or employee or contractor to the Department.

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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

☐ Yes
☐ No
☐ Law enforcement.
☒ DHS employee or contractor.
☐ Other individual/entity/organization that is
NOT the record subject.
This is a survey given to a representative sample of
the U.S. public. It may be given over the phone
(data recorded by contractor) or through an online
collection tool (data directly submitted by
respondents), both methods using the same
methodology and questions.
d. How do individuals
complete the form? Check
all that apply.

☒ Paper. Contractor uses Computer Assisted
Telephone Interviewing (CATI) for telephone
surveys.
☐ Electronic. (ex: fillable PDF)
☒ Online web form. (available and submitted via
the internet)
Provide link: It is proprietary software and may
vary during the life of the PRA depending on the
contractor collecting the data (subcontractors
may change). As such, no link is provided.

e. What information will DHS collect on the form?
It will be a combination of phone survey responses or via an online web form that
respondents will access and complete. The questions will vary each time the survey is
administered based on recent disasters or disasters deemed most likely to occur in
particular areas. All questions will be taken from the question bank that is provided with
this PTA, and each administration of the survey will be designed to take no longer than
11 minutes on average. In addition to responses for the subject matter (preparedness),
the survey collects data from various demographics. The surveys are specifically
designed to be anonymous and NO information is collected which may convert the data
to PII (names, SSN, DOB, etc.). FEMA only receives and/or retains the survey responses
(consolidated dataset) and any data analysis for the purposes stated above.

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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

f. Does this form collect Social Security number (SSN) or other element that is
stand-alone Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (SPII)? Check all that
apply. None apply.
☐ Social Security number
☐ DHS Electronic Data Interchange
Personal Identifier (EDIPI)
☐ Alien Number (A-Number)
☐ Social Media Handle/ID
☐ Tax Identification Number
☐ Known Traveler Number
☐ Visa Number
☐ Trusted Traveler Number (Global
☐ Passport Number
Entry, Pre-Check, etc.)
☐ Bank Account, Credit Card, or other
☐ Driver’s License Number
financial account number
☐ Biometrics
☐ Other. Please list:

g. List the specific authority to collect SSN or these other SPII elements.
No information is collected containing any SSN or other SPII elements.

h. How will this information be used? What is the purpose of the collection?
Describe why this collection of SPII is the minimum amount of information
necessary to accomplish the purpose of the program.
No SPII is collected or used
i.

Are individuals
provided notice at the
time of collection by
DHS (Does the records
subject have notice of
the collection or is
form filled out by
third party)?

Privacy Threshold Analysis – IC/Form

☒ Yes. Please describe how notice is provided.
Each administration of the survey starts with a
note to the respondent that the third party will be
collecting information in behalf of FEMA and that
no privacy information will be collected. The note
also includes a burden statement that the time
estimated to complete the survey. Telephone
interviews will have a read statement and the
online surveys will include a printed notice.
☐ No.

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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

3. How will DHS store the IC/form responses?
a. How will DHS store
☐ Paper. Please describe.
the original,
Click here to enter text.
completed IC/forms?
☒ Electronic. Please describe the IT system that will
store the data from the form.

The data from all the forms is output directly into a
dataset (Excel) which is stored on FEMA network drives.
(Shared drive or Cloud computing storage supported by
FEMA IT)

b. If electronic, how
does DHS input the
responses into the IT
system?

c. How would a user
search the
information
submitted on the
forms, i.e., how is the

☐ Scanned forms (completed forms are scanned into
an electronic repository). Please describe the
electronic repository.
☒ Manually (data elements manually entered). Please
describe.
If surveys are done via telephone calls, the data
will be manually entered into proprietary
software. The data from the forms will be output
as an Excel dataset and stored in FEMA IT storage
systems.
☒ Automatically. Please describe.
If surveys are responded to via online forms, data
will be automatically collected and output as an
Excel dataset and be stored in FEMA IT storage
systems.
☐ By a unique identifier. 2 Please describe. If
information is retrieved by personal identifier, please
submit a Privacy Act Statement with this PTA.
Click here to enter text.
☒ By a non-personal identifier. Please describe.

2

Generally, a unique identifier is considered any type of “personally identifiable information,” meaning any information that permits the identity
of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any other information which is linked or linkable to that individual regardless of
whether the individual is a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, visitor to the U.S., or employee or contractor to the Department.

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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

information
retrieved?

All searches would be done by types of disasters
or demographic information like county, state, or
zip code of respondents.
ICPD records are destroyed immediately after data
has been entered or otherwise incorporated into the
master file or database and verified, but longer
retention is authorized if required for business use
per EDP 2-2 from the FEMA Retention Schedule.
ICPD staff uses the collected data for studies and
development of trend analysis. Records are
continuously used and monitored. When they are no
longer deemed useful for analysis the records will be
destroyed.

d. What is the records
retention
schedule(s)? Include
the records schedule
number.
e. How do you ensure
that records are
disposed of or deleted
in accordance with
the retention
schedule?
f. Is any of this information shared outside of the original program/office? If yes,
describe where (other offices or DHS components or external entities) and why.
What are the authorities of the receiving party?
☐ Yes, information is shared with other DHS components or offices. Please describe.
Click here to enter text.
☒ Yes, information is shared external to DHS with other federal agencies, state/local
partners, international partners, or non-governmental entities. Please describe.

Final summary information and datasets will be published on OpenFEMA for external
use.
☐ No. Information on this form is not shared outside of the collecting office.

Please include a copy of the referenced form and Privacy Act Statement (if
applicable) with this PTA upon submission.
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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

PRIVACY THRESHOLD REVIEW
(TO BE COMPLETED BY COMPONENT PRIVACY OFFICE)
Component Privacy Office Reviewer:

Date submitted to component Privacy
Office:
Date submitted to DHS Privacy Office:
Have you approved a Privacy Act
Statement for this form? (Only
applicable if you have received a
waiver from the DHS Chief Privacy
Officer to approve component Privacy
Act Statements.)

Hasan Mansori
February 8, 2021
March 3, 2021

☐ Yes. Please include it with this PTA
submission.
☒ No. Please describe why not.
Click here to enter text.

Component Privacy Office Recommendation:
Please include recommendation below, including what existing privacy compliance
documentation is available or new privacy compliance documentation is needed.
FEMA Privacy continues to recommend this collection as non-privacy sensitive. However,
FEMA recommends a separate PTA to discuss the dataset that will be shared on
OpenFEMA.

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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

PRIVACY THRESHOLD ADJUDICATION
(TO BE COMPLETED BY THE DHS PRIVACY OFFICE)
DHS Privacy Office Reviewer:

Joseph Thomas (Riley Dean)

PCTS Workflow Number:
Date approved by DHS Privacy Office:
PTA Expiration Date

Click here to enter text.
March 11, 2021
March 11, 2024

DESIGNATION

Privacy Sensitive IC or
Form:

No If “no” PTA adjudication is complete.

DHS IC/Forms Review:

Choose an item.

Determination:

☒ PTA sufficient at this time.
☐ Privacy compliance documentation determination in
progress.
☐ New information sharing arrangement is required.
☐ DHS Policy for Computer-Readable Extracts Containing SPII
applies.
☐ Privacy Act Statement required.
☐ Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) required.
☐ System of Records Notice (SORN) required.
☐ Specialized training required.
☐ Other. Click here to enter text.

Date IC/Form Approved Click here to enter a date.
by PRIV:
IC/Form PCTS Number: Click here to enter text.
Privacy Act
Choose an item.
Statement:
Click here to enter text.
PTA:
Choose an item.
Click here to enter text.
PIA:
Choose an item.
If covered by existing PIA, please list: Click here to enter text.

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Privacy Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
202-343-1717, pia@hq.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/privacy

If a PIA update is required, please list: Click here to enter text.
SORN:
Choose an item.
If covered by existing SORN, please list: Click here to enter text.
If a SORN update is required, please list: Click here to enter text.
DHS Privacy Office Comments:
Please describe rationale for privacy compliance determination above.

FEMA has submitted this PTA to discuss the renewal of FEMA’s use of the National
Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness. The anonymous survey is conducted via
online form or telephone, and a contractor uses its existing phone directory system to
create a pool of phone numbers that will be used to conduct the survey.

FEMA does not receive the phone numbers used in the survey, but does receive the survey
responses, which are then used to identify progress and gaps in individual and community
preparedness and participation and to better understand the motivators and barriers to
preparedness in general and about specific hazards.
The survey collects demographic and contextual information on disaster preparedness
from members of the public including age, gender, income level, and geography. No PII is
collected, and the information that is collected is not enough to determine an individual’s
identity. The DHS Privacy Office concurs with FEMA that the survey is a non-privacy
sensitive system.
Therefore, this PTA is sufficient and no PIA is necessary. SORN coverage is also not
required, as no PII is collected and no information is retrieved by unique identifier.

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