Privacy Act of 1974, System of Records, 24128-24129 [05-9075]

Agencies

• Postal Service

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 87 (Friday, May 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24128-24129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-9075]


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POSTAL SERVICE


Privacy Act of 1974, System of Records

AGENCY: Postal Service.

ACTION: Notice of modification to an existing system of records.

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SUMMARY: The United States Postal Service[reg] (USPS[reg]) is proposing 
to modify two of its Privacy Act systems of records: USPS 810.200, 
www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment, and USPS 900.000, 
International Services. The proposed modification reflects changes 
regarding how customs declaration information is collected and reported 
by USPS.

DATES: Any interested party may submit written comments on the proposed 
modification. This proposal will become effective without further 
notice on June 6, 2005, unless comments received on or before that date 
result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this proposal should be mailed or 
delivered to the Records Office, United States Postal Service, 475 
L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 5846, Washington, DC 20260. Copies of all 
written comments will be available at the above address for public 
inspection and photocopying between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane Eyre at (202) 268-2608.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In this notice, the USPS is modifying two 
systems of records entitled USPS 810.200, https://www.usps.com Ordering, 
Payment, and Fulfillment, and USPS 900.000, International Services, 
pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. The changes are 
needed in order to ensure that all customs declaration information 
collected for outgoing mail is covered by the Privacy Act, and to add a 
routine use allowing disclosures to the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (Customs) pursuant to recent federal law. The background of 
programs for international mail and customs declarations, as well as 
reasons changes are needed to the two Privacy Act systems, are 
described below.

I. Background

    The following describes the background of how customs declaration 
information has been prepared for outgoing international mail, 
including a description of any applicable Privacy Act requirements. 
USPS customers must submit customs declaration information for mail 
weighing 16 ounces or more, as well as all mail containing potentially 
dutiable items regardless of their weight. The contents and value of an 
item must be declared on the applicable customs form, along with the 
name and address of the sender and the addressee. Customers may 
complete a hard copy form available at a Post OfficeTM, or 
complete online forms using various tools available at usps.com. 
Customs declaration is also automated in various customized mailing 
agreements with mailers, including Express Mail Manifesting and 
International Customized Mailing.
    USPS customers use two basic approaches to preparing customs 
declarations. First, customers can complete hard copy declaration forms 
at Post Offices when they submit outgoing international mail. These 
forms have not been covered in the past by a Privacy Act system of 
records. The Post Office, which filed a copy for 30 days, retrieved the 
form solely by date of mailing, for instance, for the occasional 
purpose of assisting in researching a problem at a customer's request.
    Second, online services at usps.com offer alternatives to the hard 
copy forms available at Post Offices. Simple forms can be printed from 
usps.com, which do not require the customer to create an account at 
usps.com. For the same reasons as above, information prepared using 
these simple forms have not in the past been covered by the Privacy 
Act. Another alternative at usps.com is a comprehensive solution called 
Click-N-Ship[reg]. Click-N-Ship allows customers to prepare and print 
labels and postage for both domestic and international mail. When using 
Click-N-Ship for international packages, customers open an account on 
usps.com, and then may prepare mailing labels and/or customs 
declarations online using a personal computer, printer, and Internet 
connection. Customers can print the shipping labels on their printer. 
The shipping label includes the customs declaration in the form ready 
to affix to the package. Click-N-Ship information is covered by the 
Privacy Act, and is included in system of records USPS 810.200, 
www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment.
    As a result of the above procedures, international outgoing mail 
will have affixed to it a customs declaration, whether the customer 
uses the hard copy form obtained at the Post Office or any of the 
usps.com services described above. Outbound international mail bearing 
a customs form has been subject to review by Customs when the mail is 
processed at mail processing centers. International mail, including any 
attached customs forms, is also subject to customs examination in the 
destination country.

II. Rationale for Changes to USPS Privacy Act Systems of Records

    Section 343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-210, 116 Stat. 
933, enacted on August 6, 2002) authorizes Customs to promulgate 
regulations ``providing for the transmission to the Customs Service, 
through an electronic data interchange system, of information 
pertaining to cargo to be brought into the United States or to be sent 
from the United States, prior to the arrival or departure of the 
cargo.'' These regulations were published by Customs on December 5, 
2003 (68 FR 68140), but did not mandate requirements on USPS shipments. 
According to Public Law No. 107-210, Customs, ``in consultation with 
the Postmaster General, shall determine whether it is appropriate to 
impose the same or similar requirements on shipments by the United 
States Postal Service.''
    Pursuant to this authority, Customs has since determined how USPS 
can provide advance notice about information on outgoing international 
mail. USPS plans to automate, as computer-readable records, customs 
declaration information and transmit these records to Customs. Because 
USPS plans to create such automated records and because the records 
will likely be retrieved by customer name or other identifier, USPS is 
bringing all customs declaration records under the protection of the 
Privacy Act. Hard copy forms will be covered by USPS system of records 
900.000, International Services. Online forms, to the extent not 
already covered, will be protected by USPS system of records 810.200, 
www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment. A change to both 
systems of records is also needed to add a routine use allowing 
disclosure of the records to customs officials.

III. Description of Changes to Systems of Records

    To accomplish changes needed, the USPS is modifying two applicable 
systems of records. USPS Privacy Act system 900.000, International 
Services,

[[Page 24129]]

has been revised as follows. Customs declarations information provided 
by customers on paper forms is now established as a Privacy Act covered 
record under the system. Other associated changes relate to categories 
of records, routine uses, retrievability, retention, and system 
manager. Regarding categories of records, signature has been added as 
an element of customer information. A special routine use has been 
added to provide for the disclosure of customs declaration records to 
customs officials. Retrievability has been modified to add the personal 
identifiers and the mailpiece's barcode tracking numbers, which will be 
used to retrieve records. Retention has been modified to distinguish 
the retention of customs declaration records created by mailers under 
international customized mail agreements from the retention assigned to 
other mailer customs declaration records. The system manager 
designation has been changed to reflect current USPS operational 
responsibility for international postal shipments. The USPS will amend 
its hard copy forms to include an appropriate Privacy Act notice for 
customers.
    USPS Privacy Act system 810.200, www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, 
and Fulfillment, has similarly been revised. Customs declaration 
information prepared after registering for or using an online service 
like Click-N-Ship was already protected by this system, and received a 
Privacy Act notice. Online forms not previously covered by the Privacy 
Act are also now covered by the system. The USPS has also amended these 
forms to provide an appropriate Privacy Act notice. This system of 
records has been modified to include a special routine use to authorize 
the disclosure of customs declaration information to customs officials. 
The system is also modified to reflect a maximum retention period of 90 
days and to clarify disposal procedures.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(11), interested persons are invited to 
submit written data, views, or arguments on this proposal. A report of 
the proposed modification has been sent to Congress and to the Office 
of Management and Budget for their evaluation. The USPS does not expect 
this amended notice to have any adverse effect on individual privacy 
rights. The modifications serve to properly extend Privacy Act 
protections to hard copy and all online forms relating to customs 
declarations. With regard to the routine use applying to hard copy 
forms and online transactions, the information was already available to 
Customs when the mailpiece was subject to examination at mail 
processing centers. The disclosures are made pursuant to federal law to 
provide advance notice of customs information related to outgoing 
mailpieces.
    Privacy Act systems of records USPS 810.200, https://www.usps.com 
Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment, and USPS 900.000, International 
Services were last published in their entirety in the Federal Register 
on April 29, 2005 (70 FR 22516-22560). The USPS proposes amending the 
systems as shown below:
USPS 810.200

SYSTEM NAME:
    www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment.
* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS 
AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    [Revise to read as follows:]
    Standard routine uses 1 through 7, 10, and 11 apply. In addition:
    a. Customs declaration records may be disclosed to domestic and 
foreign customs officials pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2071 (note) and 
international agreements or regulations.
* * * * *

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    [Revise to read as follows:]
    1. Records related to mailing online and online tracking and/or 
confirmation services supporting a customer order are retained for up 
to 30 days from completion of fulfillment of the order, unless retained 
longer by request of the customer. Records related to shipping services 
and domestic and international labels are retained up to 90 days. 
Delivery Confirmation and return receipt records are retained for 6 
months. Signature Confirmation records are retained for 1 year. ACH 
records are retained for up to 2 years.
    2. Other customer records are retained for 3 years after the 
customer relationship ends.
    Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or 
shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed 
according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
* * * * *
USPS 900.000

SYSTEM NAME:
    International Services.
* * * * *

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    [Revise to read as follows:]
    1. Customer information: Customer name, customer ID(s), customer 
signature, and contact information.
* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS 
AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    [Revise to read as follows:]
    Standard routine uses 1 through 7, 10, and 11 apply. In addition:
    a. Customs declaration records may be disclosed to domestic and 
foreign customs officials pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2071 (note) and 
international agreements or regulations.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
* * * * *
    RETRIEVABILITY:
    [Revise to read as follows:]
    By customer name(s) or address(es) (sender or recipient), ID 
number(s), and barcode tracking number(s).
* * * * *

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    [Revise to read as follows:]
    1. Customs declaration records created by mailers under 
international customized mail agreements are retained 5 years, and then 
erased according to the requirements of domestic and foreign Customs 
services. Other customs declaration records are retained 30 days.
    2. Records not related to customs declarations are retained 3 years 
after the relationship ends.
    Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or 
shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed 
according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    [Revise to read as follows:]
    Vice President, Network Operations Management, United States Postal 
Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Washington, DC 20260.
    Vice President, International Business, United States Postal 
Service, 1735 N. Lynn Street, Suite 6026, Arlington, VA 22209.
* * * * *

Neva Watson,
Attorney, Legislative.
[FR Doc. 05-9075 Filed 5-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P