Publicly Available Electronic Information (PAEI)

** Amendment 0001 ** March 18, 2024 ** Update to original posting to include Questions and Answers ** Please see attachment titled "PAEI RFI Q and A". Responses to the RFI and registration for virtual demonstrations are due as annotated in the original RFI posting.

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, Federal Investigative Records Enterprise, is seeking information regarding Publicly Available Electronic Information (PAEI). DCSA FIRE has been intricately involved in the piloting efforts of the Publicly Available Electronic Information (PAEI) mission. PAEI collects and analyzes online open-source content, that is available to the public on an electronic platform (i.e., website, social media, database, etc.).

Leveraging available automation, researches the accuracy, relevancy, and feasibility of PAEI for integration in the background investigation process. DCSA is seeking for the ability to search for and receive data from PAEI sources, particularly social media, to enhance the ability to contextualize and present a holistic view of potentially concerning behaviors which could be indicative of an insider threat.

As a result, with this RFI, DCSA FIRE seeks to find additional resources familiar with uncovering PAEI information while complying with the regulations in the Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) 5. The PAEI requirement is rooted within the parameters of SEAD 5. The SEAD 5 policy authorizes investigative agencies to collect, use, and retain PAEI as part of a covered individual’s background investigation and, if collected, shall incorporate the relevant results in the investigative record.

SEAD 5 states that a person performing work may not be requested to or required to; provide passwords, log into a private account, or take any action that would disclose non-publicly available social media information.

Furthermore, agencies shall not create accounts or use existing accounts on social media for the purpose of connecting (i.e., “friend”, “follow”) to a person performing work or enlist the assistance of a third party to bypass privacy controls in order to provide access to information which would otherwise be protected from public view.

The search capabilities shall be automated and shall have modifiable query capabilities to refine search criteria based on requirements and will provide information to include but not limited to, videos, images, original posts, shared posts, comments on threads or postings, and actions such as “likes” or other demonstrated action toward something which has been posted and is available for public view. The period of coverage for PAEI will be consistent with the scope of the investigations.

This mission is for establishing the PAEI search upon receipt and all behaviors in a backwards method. The DCSA FIRE mission is not focused on continuous evaluation. The BI program will use the results of continued piloting efforts to further assist in the development of policies and procedures that will support the implementation of PAEI as part of the TW2.0 initiative.