What Is the SAFETY Act, and What Does It Cover?

In this video, get an overview of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security program and its benefits to sellers and buyers of security solutions.

On April 28, the Security Industry Association (SIA) hosted Part 1 of the 2021 SIA GovSummit, the nation’s premier government security conference connecting government, security and technology. This daylong virtual conference featured insights from experts in government, industry, academia and the nonprofit sector on the security issues that matter the most to government agencies.

In one noteworthy session – The Role of the SAFETY Act Under the Biden Administration: More Important Now Than Ever – David McWhorter, founder of The Homeland Security Consulting Group, shared insights on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act (SAFETY Act) and its role under the Biden administration. The SAFETY Act was created as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, providing liability protection to companies that demonstrate their products and services are effective in countering terror threats. Since then, the country has significant threats of domestic terrorism, and while so far no instances of domestic terrorism have been determined to be acts of terrorism by DHS under the SAFETY Act’s definition, today’s DHS is different under the new administration.

In this session, McWhorter highlighted how the SAFETY Act can benefit buyer and sellers of security technologies, how the law could be more important now than ever for those offering security products and services and how to submit a successful application to DHS. In this video clip from the presentation, McWhorter shares an overview of the SAFETY Act, who it covers and the products and services that can be protected under the program.

Want to watch the full session? Archived video from Part 1 of SIA GovSummit is available to all who attended the virtual conference via the agenda page. Missed the conference? You can access all the videos and unlock access to SIA GovSummit Parts 2 (June 9) and 3 (Sept. 21) by registering for an All Access Pass. We hope to see you at the next virtual GovSummit event!