Privacy Threshold Assessment for the System of Airports Reporting (SOAR)

Privacy Threshold Assessment
(PTA)
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Office of Airports (ARP)
System of Airports Reporting (SOAR)

signed by CLAIRE W BARRETT
CLAIRE W BARRETT Digitally
Date: 2020.12.14 11:22:10 -05'00'

DOT Privacy Program

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA) Template v2.0

Template

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)
The Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA) is an analytical tool used to determine the scope of
privacy risk management activities that must be executed to ensure that the Department’s
initiatives do not create undue privacy risks for individuals.
The Privacy Threat Assessment (PTA) is a privacy risk management tool used by the
Department of Transportation (DOT) Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). The PTA determines
whether a Department system1 creates privacy risk for individuals that must be further
analyzed, documented, or mitigated, and determines the need for additional privacy
compliance documentation. Additional documentation can include Privacy Impact
Assessments (PIAs), System of Records notices (SORNs), and Privacy Act Exemption Rules
(Exemption Rules).

The majority of the Department’s privacy risk emanates from its direct collection, use,
storage, and sharing of Personally Identifiable Information (PII),2 and the IT systems used
to support those processes. However, privacy risk can also be created in the Department’s
use of paper records or other technologies. The Department may also create privacy risk
for individuals through its rulemakings and information collection requirements that
require other entities to collect, use, store or share PII, or deploy technologies that create
privacy risk for members of the public.

To ensure that the Department appropriately identifies those activities that may create
privacy risk, a PTA is required for all IT systems, technologies, proposed rulemakings, and
information collections at the Department. Additionally, the PTA is used to alert other
information management stakeholders of potential risks, including information security,
records management and information collection management programs. It is also used by
the Department’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Associate CIO for IT Policy and
Governance (Associate CIO) to support efforts to ensure compliance with other information
asset requirements including, but not limited to, the Federal Records Act (FRA), the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the Federal Information Security Management Act
(FISMA), the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and
applicable Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance.

Each Component establishes and follows its own processes for developing, reviewing, and
verifying the PTA prior to its submission to the DOT CPO. At a minimum the PTA must be
reviewed by the Component business owner, information system security manager, general
counsel, records officers, and privacy officer. After the Component review is completed, the
Component Privacy Office will forward the PTA to the DOT Privacy Office for final

For the purposes of the PTA the term “system” is used throughout document but is not limited to traditional IT
systems. It can and does refer to business activity and processes, IT systems, information collection, a project,
program and/or technology, and proposed rulemaking as appropriate for the context of the assessment.
2
The term “personally identifiable information” refers to information which can be used to distinguish or trace an
individual's identity, such as their name, social security number, biometric records, etc. alone, or when combined
with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date and
place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc.
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adjudication. Only PTAs watermarked “adjudicated” and electronically signed by the DOT
CPO are considered final. Do NOT send the PTA directly to the DOT PO; PTAs received by
the DOT CPO directly from program/business owners will not be reviewed.

If you have questions or require assistance to complete the PTA please contact your
Component Privacy Officer or the DOT Privacy Office at privacy@dot.gov. Explanatory
guidance for completing the PTA can be found in the PTA Development Guide found on the
DOT Privacy Program website, www.dot.gov/privacy.

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PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM name: System of Airports Reporting (SOAR)
Cyber Security Assessment and Management (CSAM) ID: 1356
SYSTEM MANAGER CONTACT Information:
Name: Cynthia Flores
Email: cynthia.flores@faa.gov
Phone Number: 202-267-5461
Is this a NEW system?
☐ Yes (Proceed to Section 1)
☒ No
☐ Renewal
☒ Modification
Is there a PREVIOUSLY ADJUDICATED PTA for this system?
☒ Yes:
Date: 09/26/2018
☐ No

1 SUMMARY INFORMATION
1.1

System TYPE
☒ Information Technology and/or Information System
Unique Investment Identifier (UII): 021-550799054
Cyber Security Assessment and Management (CSAM) ID: 1356
☐ Paper Based:
☐ Rulemaking
Rulemaking Identification Number (RIN):
Rulemaking Stage:
☐ Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
☐ Supplemental NPRM (SNPRM):
☐ Final Rule:
Federal Register (FR) Notice: Click here to enter text.

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☐ Information Collection Request (ICR)3
☐ New Collection

☐ Approved Collection or Collection Renewal
☐ OMB Control Number:
☐ Control Number Expiration Date:

☐ Other:
1.2

System OVERVIEW:
This is an update to the previously-adjudicated Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA) for
the System of Airports Reporting (SOAR), dated September 26, 2018. SOAR is the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system used to track grant applications and
funding transfers between the Department of Transportation (DOT) and airports across
the United States in order to administer the Airport Improvement Program (AIP)4 and the
Passenger Facility Charge (PFC)5 program. SOAR servers are deployed at the William J.
Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This PTA provides the following
updates:
(1) The Personally Identifiable Information (PII) present in SOAR is business contact
information for airport sponsors and public agencies.
(2) SOAR has completed the migration of the SOAR-Demo web server and supporting
database to the FAA Amazon Web Services GovCloud (FCS AWS GovCloud)6
platform; however, only a SOAR test server is currently located in the cloud platform
at this time.
The System Owner has submitted a change request for the input form to change the
use of “personal” to “user” on the data entry form. While information is captured from
members of the public, these individuals are sponsor, congressional and aviation
industry liaisons who provide business related information on themselves and their
respective organizations.
SOAR is comprised of two subsystems: SOAR External (referred to as the Airport
External Portal (AEP)) and SOAR Internal.
SOAR External - AEP
SOAR External AEP is a public-facing website, hosted securely using Secured Socket
Layer (SSL) encryption, and is available at https://aep.airports.faa.gov/Default.aspx. The
users of this subsystem are non-FAA aviation (airports, sponsors, public agencies, and air

See 44 USC 3201-3521; 5 CFR Part 1320
AIP is a major grant program for the planning, construction, improvement, and repair of United States airports.
5
The PFC program allows public agencies controlling public-owned commercial service airports to impose a fee on
air travelers and to use the funds for approved projects. The PFC program is authorized by 49 U.S.C. § 40117.
6
FCS AWS GovCloud (CSAM #2092) has an adjudicated PTA, dated 08/16/2019.
3
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carriers) employees. These external users are members of the public, and the website
contains a direct link to the FAA Privacy Policy.
To create an account, external users must complete the “New User Request Account”
web form, where they manually enter their name, title, business email address, business
address, city, state, zip code, country, and phone number. External users are also
prompted to create security questions and answers.7 Once the request is submitted, it is
reviewed by the SOAR Program Manager. If access is approved, AEP will generate an
email notification that includes a username and password which is sent to the external
requestor’s business email address.
The AEP website does not include a Privacy Act Statement (PAS). The Program is
currently coordinating with the FAA Chief Privacy Office and Office of General
Counsel to develop a PAS for inclusion on the AEP website.
Once external users have access to AEP, they can perform multiple transactions related to
the airport(s) and program(s) they represent. For example, external users can manually
input airport and air carrier contact information (such as full name, business street
address, city, state, zip, phone, and business email address) for the purpose of generating
profiles from which they can enter quarterly PFC financial data for a specified airport by
entering revenue details for specified calendar years. There is no data retrieval by
identifiers.
AEP provides access to pre-generated reports meant for external users as well as five (5)
reports that are publicly-available (log in is not required to access the publicly available
reports). These reports are related to the collection of PFC for certain time periods,
including interest accrued, and revenue. These external reports do not include any PII.
SOAR Internal
SOAR Internal is accessible to internal users on the FAA intranet
at https://soar.arp.faa.gov using MyAccess8 authentication. The users of SOAR Internal
are ARP federal and contract employees.
The Security Control (SC)-8 POA&M in CSAM was closed once the SSL encryption
was added to this module.
SOAR Internal is comprised of the following modules:
SOAR Air Carrier Activity Information System (ACAIS): This module is the
primary source for the viewing, editing, and addition of airport, carrier,
enplanement, and cargo information.

Security questions include: “What school did you attend for the 5th grade?” “What is your preferred musical
genre?” “What was the model year of your first car?”
8
MyAccess (CSAM #2009) has an adjudicated PTA, dated 12/20/2016, which is expired.
7

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The main data input is via the Airport Activity Survey, Form 1800-31,9 which can
be submitted in the following ways: 1) electronically with direct input to ACAIS;
2) email; or 3) hardcopy. These submissions require the user to input the operator
name and address, FAA Certificate Information Number (with Issue Date),
Airport Location Identifier (i.e. CON for the Concord, New Hampshire airport),
and the name, title and signature of the preparing official. For users who choose to
submit via email, the air carriers manually complete the form, certify to accuracy
of the data by signing it, and submit the form to the FAA group mailbox where
the data is manually entered in the system. Alternatively, they may send a hard
copy of the form to the contractor (Booz Allen)’s office for manual data entry into
SOAR. With this data, the ACAIS can generate reports on enplanement statistics
on the respective airport(s).
SOAR National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS): This data usage
module is used to determine the amount of funds the airport is entitled to. The
NPIAS module consists of statistical data entry and reporting to track the cargo
and passenger landings for a given calendar year. Reports generated include
statistical reports and may contain airport contact information (such as airport
data, carrier data, and business contact information).
SOAR AIP (Grants): The AIP, which is established under chapter 471 of title 49, United States
Code (U.S.C.), is a grant program for the construction, improvement, and preservation of airports
identified in the NPIAS. The AIP module performs calculations that enable users to quickly
determine grant qualifications and entitlements. It provides a series of pages through which the
user creates a grant, and then tracks the grant through an iterative approval process until the grant
is released. The AIP module also tracks all funding associated with a grant and its projects until
the grant is closed. Within SOAR, the AIP module combines two major functional requirements:
Grants Processing and Funds Management.
Grants Processing: This function tracks and reports on grants from the
application, to award, and final close out. The system users enter
information such as airport name/worksite, fiscal year, location, grant
type, funding information (such as limitation codes, amount available,
changed amount, and length of grant). The user can then enter project
information about a specific grant, such as “rehabilitate taxiway”. The
grant is then processed through multiple reviews, and can be approved,
deleted/withdrawn, modified, amended, or reported on.
The Office of Government and Industry Affairs (AGI) is the principal
advisor to the Office of Airports on all matters concerning Congress,
aviation industry groups, and other governmental organizations. As such,
OMB Control number: 2120-0067, expiration date 02/29/2020. Note: The ICR has an approved extension until
10/31/2020. Calendar year enplanement data is due by 9/30/2020.

9

FAA-form-1800-31-a
tco-2019.pdf

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AGI serves as the primary point of contact on AIP and requires ability to
edit/change congressional information (i.e., U.S. Senator’s name, title,
party affiliation, business email address, address and phone number) to
ensure it is accurate before the mandatory release of grant information to
Congress. No PII is released with grants information to Congress.
Once a grant is created and approved, a Grant Offer Document and Grant
Transmittal Letter are generated and contain the grant, sponsor, worksite,
project, Point of Contact (POC) and funding information which are
provided to the specified airport or sponsor (such as the Maryland
Aviation Administration).
For long term development projects, the FAA signs a Letter of Intent
(LOI) with the sponsor for the parties to promise a certain level of grant
funding throughout its duration. The LOI contains sponsor, project,
worksite, and future funding information and could include POC name
and business address.
Funds Management: The Funds Management function maintains a listing
of fund grant allocations, past and present, for a wide variety of purposes
in order to oversee the funds distribution, as required by statute. These
users can enter budgetary information on a state by state and regional
basis. Users can also review accounting transactions and funding ceilings.
PII is not present in this module. This data is electronically input (via
spreadsheet upload) into SOAR in the form of checkbooks obtained from
the Grants Notification System (GNS), a DOT system.
Users can generate over 200 reports within the AIP module, such as the
enplanement report, reconciliation report, PFC adjustment report, and deobligations report. However, only a few of those reports could contain PII
including business contact information for federal employees (such as
political/congressional liaisons), as well as contact information for members of
the public, such as airport liaisons.
SOAR PFC: This module tracks PFC applications, associated projects, and
collected revenue. PFC applications are submitted by a Public Agency (PA)10 and
serve as initial requests to impose passenger facility charges on airline tickets and
use the funds collected for eligible projects. ARP staff receives the applications
via various methods (i.e. email, regular mail, in person), and manually enter
application data into SOAR. The types of data entered include: sponsor type,
district office, congressional district, Delphi11 Supplier Number, business
Public agency means a State or any agency of one or more States; a municipality or other political subdivision of a
State; an authority created by Federal, State or local law; a tax-supported organization; an Indian tribe or pueblo that
controls a commercial service airport; or for the purposes of this part, a private sponsor of an airport approved to
participate in the Pilot Program on Private Ownership of Airports. 14 C.F.R. 158.3
11
Delphi is DOT’s core accounting system.
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Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and a Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) number.
A TIN is a required field that is captured when a new sponsor (i.e. business entity)
is manually entered into the system. The name and business phone number of the
airport’s manager is electronically imported from the National Airspace System
Resources (NASR).
There is no intent to collect SSN as the TIN is taxpayer information for the
respective business entities, rather than the individuals themselves.
For a list of data exchanges, please see section 2.10.

2 INFORMATION MANGEMENT
2.1

SUBJECTS of Collection
Identify the subject population(s) for whom the system collects, maintains, or
disseminates PII. (Check all that apply)
☒ Members of the public:

☒ Citizens or Legal Permanent Residents (LPR)
☐ Visitors
☒ Members of the DOT Federal workforce
☒ Members of the DOT Contract workforce

2.2

☐ System Does Not Collect PII. If the system does not collect PII, proceed directly
to question 2.3.
What INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS will be collected, used, retained, or
generated?

Subsystem/Module
AEP

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Member of the DOT
Federal/Contract
Workforce
• First name
• Middle initial
• Last name
• User ID
• Title
• Line of Business and
routing symbol
• Business email
• Fax number

PTA Template v 2.0

Member of the Public
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

First name
Middle initial
Last name
User ID
Title
Company name
Business email
Fax number
Country

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•
•
•
•
•

SOAR Internal

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

FAA/SOAR

Country
Business Phone
Business Address
Security
questions/answers
Password

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Business phone
Mobile phone
Pager number
Car phone number
Emergency phone
Organization
Country/region
Business address
Security questions/answers
Password

Name
User ID
For contractors,
company name.
Title (Optional)
For FAA employees,
Line of business and
routing symbol
Fax number
(optional)
Business Email
Business Phone
Business Address
Password (note:
SOAR no longer
collects password,
but there is still old,
un-usable data in this
field)

•
•
•
•

First name
Middle initial
Last name
User ID (note: only for users prior
to 2001)
Title
Company Name
Business email (the user are not
prohibited from using nonorganization email (e.g., yahoo
account)
Fax number
Country
Business Phone (SOAR does not
prohibit user from entering
personal phone)
Mobile phone
Pager number
Car phone number
Emergency phone
Organization
Country/region
Business Address
Password (note: this is only for
users that were created prior to
2011 and is no longer valid or
used)
Business TIN

•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•
User IDs are maintained in audit logs.

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Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)

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Does the system RELATE to or provide information about individuals?
☒ Yes:
SOAR maintains information on users of the system for access, authentication, and
contact purposes. SOAR also maintains airports and sponsor liaison and accounting
information for processing and reporting purposes.
☐ No

If the answer to 2.1 is “System Does Not Collect PII” and the answer to 2.3 is “No”,
you may proceed to question 2.10.
If the system collects PII or relate to individual in any way, proceed to question 2.4.
2.4

Does the system use or collect SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS (SSNs)? (This includes
truncated SSNs)
☐ Yes:
Authority:
Purpose:

2.5

☒ No: The system does not use or collect SSNs, including truncated SSNs. Proceed
to 2.6.

Has an SSN REDUCTION plan been established for the system?
☐ Yes:
☐ No:

2.6

Does the system collect PSEUDO-SSNs?
☒ Yes: SOAR maintains (business) TINs for sponsor organizations/airports. In the case
of sole proprietorships, TINs could be a proprietor’s SSN. TIN is manually added
by users for cases of a mismatch with Delphi for funding reconciliation purposes.
These TINs are encrypted in the system.
☐ No: The system does not collect pseudo-SSNs, including truncated SSNs.

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Will information about individuals be retrieved or accessed by a UNIQUE
IDENTIFIER associated with or assigned to an individual?
☒ Yes
Is there an existing Privacy Act System of Records notice (SORN) for the
records retrieved or accessed by a unique identifier?
☒ Yes:
SORN:
DOT/ALL 13, Internet/Intranet Activity and Access Records, May 7, 2002 67 FR
30757
☐ No:
Explanation:
Expected Publication:

2.8

☐ Not Applicable: Proceed to question 2.9

Has a Privacy Act EXEMPTION RULE been published in support of any
Exemptions claimed in the SORN?
☐ Yes
Exemption Rule:
☐ No
Explanation:
Expected Publication:

2.9

☒ Not Applicable: SORN does not claim Privacy Act exemptions.

Has a PRIVACY IMPACT ASSESSMENT (PIA) been published for this system?
☐ Yes:

☒ No: A PIA is in development.

2.10

☐ Not Applicable: The most recently adjudicated PTA indicated no PIA was
required for this system.

Does the system EXCHANGE (receive and/or send) DATA from another INTERNAL
(DOT) or EXTERNAL (non-DOT) system or business activity?
☒ Yes:

Internal Data Exchanges:
•

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NASR: SOAR pulls from NASR, via an Oracle File View, the following fields:
worksite information, runway information, the names and business phone
numbers of airport managers for the purpose of maintaining accurate information

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on airports and sponsors. No SORN coverage is required as this data is business
contact information.
NASR and SOAR do not have a PII Data Sharing Agreement. The Program is
advised to develop this agreement.
•

Grants Notification System (GNS): SOAR has a non-PII data exchange with
GNS, a DOT system. During grant season, every 30 minutes, GNS automatically
extracts grant data from the SOAR database and populates a GNS feed table via a
database link. SOAR simultaneously pulls the GNS processed grants data into its
system via the same database link. SOAR and GNS have a current
Interconnection Security Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding. The
purpose of this exchange is to ensure accurate grant information is accounted for
within SOAR. No SORN is required.

•

DTF: SOAR pulls from DTF, via an Oracle Database link, non-PII accounting
data regarding grant obligation, invoice and payment data. The purpose of this
exchange is to ensure accurate accounting information is maintained within
SOAR. No SORN or MOU is required

•

MyAccess: SOAR uses MyAccess as an authentication mechanism. MyAccess
sends a user’s business contact information including email, active directory name
to SOAR Internal. None of the data sent from MyAccess to SOAR is stored in
the database as data is removed once authentication is completed. SOAR only
uses the provided email address for authentication. SORN coverage is provided
via DOT/ALL 13.
SOAR and MyAccess do not have a PII Data Sharing Agreement. The current
plan is for MyAccess to draft a universal PII Data Sharing Agreement for all
systems it shares data with; however, the FAA has not yet started development
of this Agreement.

•

Flight Standards Data: Flight Standards data is the air taxi commercial operators
contact information and is published by the Office of Flight Standards Service.
SOAR administrators manually download a Flight Standards data file from a
publicly-available web page every year and upload the data into SOAR. The
purpose of this exchange is to populate Flight Standards contact data. This
exchange does not require a SORN or MOU.

•

Terminal Area Forecast (TAF): A member of Airport Planning and Programming
(APP-400) provides the SOAR system administrator with forecast data from the
TAF publicly-available web page. This data is then manually uploaded into
SOAR. The purpose of this exchange is to provide SOAR with enplanement
forecast data for planning purposes. No PII is included and no SORN or MOU is
required.

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External Data Exchanges:
•

•

USASpending.gov: A public, government transparency website (external to DOT)
wherein SOAR users manually transfer grant data from SOAR into
USASpending.gov for the purpose of populating grant information on that
website.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS): The SOAR System Administrator
requests enplanement data from the BTS every year for manual upload into
SOAR. The purpose of this data exchange is for SOAR to maintain accurate and
complete enplanement data.
No MOUs are required for this external, non-PII data exchange.

☐ No
2.11

Does the system have a National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)approved RECORDS DISPOSITION schedule for system records?
☐ Yes:
Schedule Identifier:
Schedule Summary:
☒ In Progress The Program currently maintains SOAR records as permanent. The
SOAR Program and the Records Management Office are in discussion to regarding
updating the Office of Airports retention schedules, including for SOAR. This effort has
been delayed, but is ongoing.
☐ No:

3 SYSTEM LIFECYCLE

3.1

3.2

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a process for planning, creating,
testing, and deploying an information system. Privacy risk can change depending on
where a system is in its lifecycle.
Was this system IN PLACE in an ELECTRONIC FORMAT prior to 2002?

The E-Government Act of 2002 (EGov) establishes criteria for the types of systems
that require additional privacy considerations. It applies to systems established in
2002 or later, or existing systems that were modified after 2002.
☐ Yes:
☒ No:
☐Not Applicable: System is not currently an electronic system. Proceed to Section
4.
Has the system been MODIFIED in any way since 2002?
☒ Yes: The system has been modified since 2002.
☒ Maintenance.

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☒ Security.
☐ Changes Creating Privacy Risk:
☐ Other:
3.3

☐ No: The system has not been modified in any way since 2002.
Is the system a CONTRACTOR-owned or -managed system?
☒ Yes: The system is owned or managed under contract.
Contract Number: DTFAWA-12-D-00060
Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton

3.4

☐ No: The system is owned and managed by Federal employees.
Has a system Security Risk CATEGORIZATION been completed?

The DOT Privacy Risk Management policy requires that all PII be protected using
controls consistent with Federal Information Processing Standard Publication 199
(FIPS 199) moderate confidentiality standards. The OA Privacy Officer should be
engaged in the risk determination process and take data types into account.
☒ Yes: A risk categorization has been completed.

Based on the risk level definitions and classifications provided above, indicate
the information categorization determinations for each of the following:
Confidentiality:
Integrity:
Availability:

☐ Low

☒ Moderate

☐ High

☐ Undefined

☐ Low

☒ Moderate

☐ High

☐ Undefined

☐ Low

☒ Moderate

☐ High

☐ Undefined

Based on the risk level definitions and classifications provided above, indicate
the information system categorization determinations for each of the following:
Confidentiality:
Integrity:
Availability:

3.5

☐ Low

☒ Moderate

☐ High

☐ Undefined

☐ Low

☒ Moderate

☐ High

☐ Undefined

☐ Low

☒ Moderate

☐ High

☐ Undefined

☐ No: A risk categorization has not been completed. Provide date of anticipated
completion.
Has the system been issued an AUTHORITY TO OPERATE?
☒ Yes:

Date of Initial Authority to Operate (ATO): 9/25/2019
Anticipated Date of Updated ATO: 9/25/2022
☐ No:

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☐ Not Applicable: System is not covered by the Federal Information Security Act
(FISMA).

4 COMPONENT PRIVACY OFFICER ANALYSIS

The Component Privacy Officer (PO) is responsible for ensuring that the PTA is as complete
and accurate as possible before submitting to the DOT Privacy Office for review and
adjudication.
COMPONENT PRIVACY OFFICER CONTACT Information
Name: Essie L. Bell

Email: Essie.Bell@faa.gov

Phone Number: 202-267-6034

COMPONENT PRIVACY OFFICER Analysis
This assessment is an update to the adjudicated PTA, dated September 26, 2018. The SOAR
system is used to track grants funding applications and funding transfers between the FAA and
airports across the U.S. in relation to administering the AIP and PFC programs. It is comprised
of two subsystems: SOAR External (referred to as AEP) and SOAR Internal. SOAR is contractor
owned and managed by Booz Allen Hamilton (under contract DTFAWA-12-D-00060). FAA
Privacy finds SOAR to be a privacy sensitive system as information is obtained from members
of the public and members of the DOT Federal and contract workforce. However, the PII
maintained in the system consists of business contact information, userIDs, passwords and
security questions/answers. The members of the public are sponsor, congressional and other
aviation industry liaisons who provide business information, as appropriate. Additionally, for
SOAR Internal, the TIN collected from members of the public is the business entity taxpayer ID
and not the individual’s Social Security number (SSN). The unauthorized access risks for SOAR
are mitigated by the use of SSL encryption and no PII is included in any external SOAR reports.
These risks for SOAR Internal are mitigated by the use of MyAccess authentication. There are
numerous data exchanges which require MOUs currently in draft. The records in the system are
maintained in accordance with the following SORN: DOT/ALL 13, Internet/Intranet Activity
and Access Records, May 7, 2002 67 FR 30757. The records in the system do not have an
approved NARA Records Disposition Schedule, however, there are continuing discussions
between ARP and the RMO to identify appropriate records schedules.

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DOT Privacy Program

FAA/SOAR

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)

5 COMPONENT REVIEW
Prior to submitting the PTA for adjudication, it is critical that the oversight offices within
the Component have reviewed the PTA for completeness, comprehension and accuracy.
Component Reviewer

Business Owner

General Counsel

Information System
Security Manager (ISSM)
Privacy Officer

Records Officer

Name

Review Date

Cyndi Flores, System Owner

05/19/2020

Christopher Andrews

10/27/2020

None

None

Essie L. Bell

6/3/2020

Ernesto Villacarlos

01/22/2020

Table 1 - Individuals who have reviewed the PTA and attest to its completeness, comprehension and accuracy.

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DOT Privacy Program

Control #

Control Name

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA) Template v2.0

Primary PTA
Question

Satisfied

Other
than
Satisfied

Template

N/A

DOT CPO Notes

AP-1

Authority to Collect

1.2 - Overview

X

AIP, which is established under chapter 471 of title 49,
United States Code (U.S.C.).
Records created for the purposes of account creation,
logging, auditing, etc. are covered by DOT/ALL-13.
DOT CPO issued a POA&M on 9/26/2018 because the then
current PTA did not adequately explain the use of TIN/SSN
in the system. DOT CPO authorizes the cancellation of the
POA&M based on this assessment.

AP-2

Purpose
Specification

1.2 - Overview

X

SOAR is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system
used to track grant applications and funding transfers
between the DOT and airports across the United States in
order to administer the Airport Improvement Program (AIP)
and the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program.
Note: The System Owner has submitted a change request
for the input form to change the use of “personal” to “user”
on the data entry form. While information is captured from
members of the public, these individuals are sponsor,
congressional and aviation industry liaisons who provide
business related information on themselves and their
respective organizations. The change in designation from
“personal” to “user” does not alter the characteristic of the
data collected – contact information about individuals is still
considered PII.
Records created for the purposes of account creation,
logging, auditing, etc. are covered by DOT/ALL-13

AR-1

Governance and
Privacy Program

Common Control

X

Addressed by DOT CPO.

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DOT Privacy Program

Control #

Control Name

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)

Primary PTA
Question

Satisfied

Other
than
Satisfied

FAA/SOAR

N/A

DOT CPO Notes

AR-2

Privacy Impact and
Risk Assessment

Program
Management

X

POA&M
Issue: System meets eGov requirements for PIA because it
collects and maintains information from members of the
public. Requirement: submit PIA. Timeline: 90 days. NOTE:
Most PII is collected in support of business activities,
however some business entities that submit data are sole
proprieters and the data submission includes TIN which may
be SSN. NOTE: DOT CPO previously issued POA&M for this
control in PTA adjudicated on 9/26/2018.

AR-3

Privacy
Requirements for
Contractors and
Service Providers

3.3 - Contractor
System

X

POA&M
Issue: Contracts may not have appropriate Privacy
language. Contractors may not be aware of their
responsibilities for the protection and use of PII.
Requirement: Update contracts to include appropriate
language. Timeline: 365 days from PCM

AR-4

Privacy Monitoring
and Auditing

Common Control

X

AR-5

Privacy Awareness
and Training

Common Control

X

Addressed by DOT CPO.

AR-6

Privacy Reporting

Common Control

X

Addressed by DOT CPO.

AR-7

Privacy-Enhanced
System Design and
Development

2.5 - SSN
Reduction

X

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PTA Template v 2.0

Addressed by DOT CPO.

DOT CPO issued a POA&M on 9/26/2018 because the then
current PTA did not adequately explain the use of TIN/SSN
in the system. DOT CPO authorizes the cancellation of the
POA&M based on this assessment.

2

DOT Privacy Program

Control #

Control Name

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)

Primary PTA
Question

AR-8

Accounting of
Disclosures

2.7 - SORN

DI-1

Data Quality

1.2 - System
Overview

DI-2

Data Integrity and
Data Integrity Board

3.4 - Security
Risk
Categorization

DM-1

Minimization of PII

2.2 – Information
About Individuals

DM-2

Data Retention and
Disposal

2.11 - Records
Disposition
Schedule

DM-3

Minimization of PII
Used in Testing,
Training, and
Research

2.2 – Information
About Individuals

IP-1

Consent

2.7 - SORN

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Satisfied

PTA Template v 2.0

Other
than
Satisfied

FAA/SOAR

N/A
X

X

DOT CPO Notes
Primary records for the system are not protected by the
Privacy Act.
Data collected directly from individuals.

X

X

Activity does not constitute sharing covered by the CMA.

DOT CPO issued a POA&M on 9/26/2018 because the then
current PTA did not adequately explain the use of TIN/SSN
in the system. DOT CPO authorizes the cancellation of the
POA&M based on this assessment.

X

See SI-12 – Information Handling and Retention

X

X

System not used for testing, training, research.

Issue: Ondividuals not given an opportunity to review and
understand how their PII will be used. The AEP website
does not include a Privacy Act Statement (PAS).
Requirement: Implmentat privacy policy specific to system
PII collection on websites. Timeline: 30 days. Note:
Consent required for collection of information necessary to
create accounts covered by DOT/ALL-13. Note: This POA&M

3

DOT Privacy Program

Control #

Control Name

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)

Primary PTA
Question

Satisfied

Other
than
Satisfied

FAA/SOAR

N/A

DOT CPO Notes
was previously issued in PTA adjudicated 9/26/20. Note:
see TR-1 and TR-2

IP-2

Individual Access

2.8 – Exemption
Rule

IP-3

Redress

2.7 - SORN

X

Records created for the purposes of account creation,
logging, auditing, etc. are covered by DOT/ALL-13

IP-4

Complaint
Management

Common Control

X

Addressed by DOT CPO.

SE-1

Inventory of PII

Common Control

X

SOAR is a privacy sensitve system. System categorization at
Low Confidentiality is appropriate for the protection of PII.
The Adjudicated PTA or copy of controls/POA&Ms should
be included in the risk acceptance package for the system.
DOT CPO recommends maintaining encryption of TIN field
and records containing TIN as some may be the SSN of sole
proprieters.
The Adjudicated PTA should be uploaded into CSAM as
evidence that the required privacy analysis for this system
has been completed.
Note: the infrastructure support plans for the system are
not clearly articulated in the PTA. At the time of submission
the FAA states, “SOAR has completed the migration of the
SOAR-Demo web server and supporting database to the
FAA Amazon Web Services GovCloud (FCS AWS GovCloud)12
platform; however, only a SOAR test server is currently
located in the cloud platform at this time.” Updates to the
infrastructure should be captured in the PCM for the next
annual authorization. SOAR should be captured as a

12

X

Records created for the purposes of account creation,
logging, auditing, etc. are covered by DOT/ALL-13

FCS AWS GovCloud (CSAM #2092) has an adjudicated PTA, dated 08/16/2019.

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DOT Privacy Program

Control #

Control Name

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)

Primary PTA
Question

Satisfied

Other
than
Satisfied

FAA/SOAR

N/A

DOT CPO Notes
system covered by the FCS AWS GovCloud in that systems
next annual authorization.
The PTA should be updated not later than the next security
assessment cycle and must be approved by the DOT CPO
prior to the authorization decision. Component policy or
substantive changes to the system may require that the PTA
be updated prior to the next security assessment cycle.

SE-2

Privacy Incident
Response

Common Control

TR-1

Privacy Notice

2.7 - SORN

X

See IP-1

TR-2

System of Records
Notices and Privacy
Act Statements

2.7 - SORN

X

See IP-1

TR-3

Dissemination of
Privacy Program
Information

Common Control

UL-1

Internal Use

2.10 - Internal
and External Use

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PTA Template v 2.0

X

Addressed by DOT CPO.

X

Addressed by DOT CPO.

X

Information sharing agreements/MOU/other instrument
required for sharing or PII between DOT/FAA systems. PII
collected as professional contact information is not covered
by Privacy Act but still considered information about

5

DOT Privacy Program

Control #

Control Name

Privacy Threshold Assessment (PTA)

Primary PTA
Question

Satisfied

Other
than
Satisfied

FAA/SOAR

N/A

DOT CPO Notes
individual, particularly for those records connected to sole
proprieterships.
POA&M
• Issue: Agreements required to cover PII sharing
with MyAccess and NASR. Requirement: establish
agreements/other appropriate instrument to
address authorized uses of PII including retention
and data protection. Timeline: 365 days.
Records created for the purposes of account creation,
logging, auditing, etc. are covered by DOT/ALL-13.

UL-2

Information Sharing
with Third Parties

SI-12

Information
Handling and
Retention

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2.10 - Internal
and External Use

X

USASpending, BTS – no PII is exchanged.
Information not authorized for disclosure beyond
DOT/DOT-contractors.
Records created for the purposes of account creation,
logging, auditing, etc. are covered by DOT/ALL-13
X

PTA Template v 2.0

POA&M
• Issue: System does not have properly authorized
records retention schedule; therefore records must
be maintained as permanent records.
Requirement: Submit proposed records schedule
to DOT Records Officer. Timeline: 90 days. Note:
POA&M previously issued in PTA adjudicated
9/26/18

6