The agency was previously known as POT (Politiets overvåkningstjeneste or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was dictated by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001.
Der Dienst war lange als POT (Politiets overvåkningstjeneste oder Police Surveillance Agency) bekannt; das norwegische Parlament änderte aber am 2. Juni 2001 den Namen in den heutigen Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste.