Inter-Agency "Silo Breaker" Data Bridge

The Data Bridge is a secure gateway that lets one agency ask another a specific question, such as whether a record exists or what a permitted field contains, and receive only the fields the inter-agency agreement allows. Data stays in the providing agency's systems; the Bridge applies the agreement's rules to every query and logs who asked what, why and what was returned. Privacy officers and data stewards can see every exchange and show that sharing stayed within the agreement and the law.

The problem it solves

When one agency needs to verify something held by another, the usual options are a bulk extract sent on a schedule, a direct connection into the other agency's database, or a manual request by email. Bulk copies go stale and spread personal information further than needed, direct connections give more access than the agreement intends, and manual requests are slow and hard to audit. Privacy officers are asked to sign off on sharing they cannot easily see, and when an inspector general or oversight body asks what was shared and why, the answer has to be reconstructed.

Who it’s for

• Program offices that need to verify information held by another agency
• Data stewards and system owners at providing agencies
• Senior agency officials for privacy and privacy offices
• Chief data officers and interagency agreement managers
• Inspectors general and auditors reviewing data sharing

1. AgreeEach data-sharing relationship starts from the agreement behind it. The agreement's parties, purpose, permitted fields, legal authority and term are recorded and turned into a sharing policy that both sides approve.
2. ConnectThe providing agency connects the Bridge to its system through a narrow adapter that answers only the queries the policy allows. No database credentials or bulk copies pass to the requesting agency.
3. QueryThe requesting agency's system or user sends a query with a stated purpose. The Bridge checks it against the policy, passes it to the provider, and returns only the permitted answer, which may be a match result or specific fields.
4. OverseePrivacy officers, data stewards and auditors see every exchange under each agreement, review anomalies and prepare the reporting that agreements and oversight bodies ask for.

Agreement-driven policies

Each sharing policy is built from a recorded interagency agreement, including its purpose, authority, permitted fields and term, and stops working when the agreement expires.

Field-level release

Responses contain only the fields the policy allows; other fields in the source record never leave the providing agency.

Match-only answers

Where a yes-or-no answer is enough, the Bridge returns only whether a matching record exists, without returning the record.

Data stays at the source

Queries are answered from the providing agency's system at the time they are asked, so no bulk copy is made or kept by the requester.

Purpose on every query

Every query carries a stated purpose and case reference, which are checked against the agreement and kept in the log.

Volume and rate limits

Limits on the number of queries per requester and period, as the agreement sets, to prevent use of the Bridge as a bulk extract.

Complete query log

Who asked, for what purpose, under which agreement, which fields were returned and when, for every query, and it cannot be edited.

Anomaly review

Queries outside normal patterns, such as unusual volumes, hours or repeated refusals, flagged for the privacy office or data steward to review.

Policy approval workflow

New policies and changes need approval from the providing agency's data steward and the privacy offices named in the agreement.

Agreement register

All agreements with their parties, authority, term, renewal dates and the policies built from them, in one register.

Standard APIs

Requesting systems connect through documented REST APIs, and people without a system integration can use a web form under the same policy.

Oversight reporting

Activity, refusals and anomalies by agreement, ready for privacy offices, data integrity boards where matching programs apply, and inspectors general.

Requesting user

Submits queries with a purpose and sees only the permitted answers

Data steward

Owns the providing agency's data and approves what may be shared from it

Agreement manager

Records agreements and drafts the sharing policies built from them

Privacy officer

Approves policies, reviews activity and anomalies, and prepares privacy reporting

Integration engineer

Connects systems and adapters and tests them, without seeing live responses

Auditor (read-only)

Reviews agreements, policies and query logs without changing anything

Providing agency systems

A narrow adapter in the providing agency's environment answers permitted queries from its database or API, mapped during implementation.

Requesting agency systems

Case management and eligibility systems send queries through documented REST APIs, each registered with its own credentials.

Single sign-on

People sign in through their own agency's identity provider, including PIV card sign-in, so each agency's credentials and policies apply.

Security information and event management

Query and policy logs are streamed to each agency's SIEM, limited to that agency's own activity.

Records management

Logs and agreement records are retained and disposed of under the retention schedules you set, and can be transferred to your records system.

Work API

Agreement, policy and activity data available to each agency's reporting tools through the Moraph Work API.

Records kept in the United States

The Bridge and its logs are hosted in Moraph's United States region, or in your own environment.

Cleared support lane

Support tickets from federal clients are routed only to US citizens with active security clearances.

Single sign-on and role-based access

Each agency's people sign in through its own identity provider, and roles decide who can query, approve policies and see logs.

Encryption under controlled keys

Data in transit and logs at rest are encrypted, with keys Moraph staff cannot use without explicit, time-bound authorization.

Complete audit trail

Every query, response, refusal, policy change and approval recorded with the person, system and time, and cannot be edited.

Independent audits

Moraph's controls are covered by its SOC 2 Type II report and ISO/IEC 27001 certification, available through the Trust Center.

Moraph cloud, United States

Hosted in the United States region, with adapters installed in each providing agency's environment.

Agency-hosted

Installed in an agency's own environment where its policy requires, operated under its authorization.

Dedicated environment

A single-tenant environment for agencies that require isolation, scoped in the proposal.

With a managed service

Optionally run alongside a Moraph managed service for policy upkeep, adapter maintenance and administration.

Agreement and privacy review

We review the agreements, system of records notices, privacy impact assessments and legal authorities behind each sharing relationship with your privacy office and counsel.

Policy design

Permitted fields, query types, purposes and limits are translated into sharing policies and reviewed with both agencies' data stewards and privacy offices.

Adapter and integration

The adapter is installed at the providing agency and mapped to its system, and requesting systems are registered and connected. We need a contact from each system's technical team.

Testing with fictional records

Each policy is tested with fictional records, including queries that should be refused, before any live data is connected.

Authorization support

We provide control documentation to support each agency's own authorization decision; Moraph does not hold a FedRAMP authorization for the Bridge.

Training and go-live

Requesting users, data stewards and privacy staff are trained on their own tasks, and each agreement goes live when both sides approve.

• It does not decide whether sharing is lawful. The legal authority, agreements, system of records notices and privacy impact assessments are your agencies' responsibility; the Bridge enforces the policies you approve.
• Computer matching programs still need their matching agreements, data integrity board approvals and notices. The Bridge supports them but does not replace those steps.
• Answers are only as accurate as the providing agency's records. The Bridge does not correct or reconcile source data.
• It is not a data warehouse or analytics platform. It answers specific queries and does not build combined datasets across agencies.
• Each providing agency must install and maintain an adapter, which needs its system owner's approval and technical support.
• Statute-specific restrictions, such as those on federal tax information, can be reflected in policies, but determining what they permit is your agencies' decision.
• Moraph holds no FedRAMP authorization for the Bridge. We provide control documentation to support each agency's own authorization.
• Responses depend on the availability of the providing agency's system; if it is unavailable, queries are refused rather than answered from a copy.

• Turn one of your existing agreements into a policy and check that it says what the agreement says
• Send test queries with fictional records, including ones that should be refused, and review the refusals
• Confirm that fields outside the policy never appear in a response or a log
• Review the query log from the point of view of your privacy office and inspector general
• Check what happens when an agreement expires or the providing system is unavailable
• Walk the adapter installation through your system owner's change and authorization process