Recommendation for Identifying, Protecting, and Ensuring Proper Handling of Tribal Data and Information

Several interested parties requested that we investigate whether U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) officials disclosed sensitive or confidential tribal information to entities outside the U.S. Government. Some of these individuals also alleged that DOI or U.S. Department of the Treasury employees intentionally released confidential tribal information to Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs). We investigated these allegations in collaboration with the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General. We found that the Treasury emailed the DOI a spreadsheet of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) tribal registration data the Treasury had requested and collected from tribes. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) requested this information from the Treasury to confirm whether the tribes had registered to receive CARES Act funding. When the Treasury emailed the information to the DOI as requested, it did not mark the data as confidential. We also found that four BIA regional employees forwarded the spreadsheet containing tribal registration data to officers of tribes (not ANCs) outside the Government. The evidence showed that the BIA employees did this in an effort to remind these tribes that, according to the spreadsheet, they had not yet registered for CARES Act funding. We found that forwarding the entire spreadsheet was inconsistent with DOI guidance. We did not find evidence that any DOI or Treasury employees intentionally released this data to ANCs. This management advisory provides a recommendation to help the DOI ensure proper identification and handling of potentially confidential tribal information and prevent future improper disclosures of this information.