Office of Inspector General; Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records, 36848-36851 [E8-14678]

Agencies

• Election Assistance Commission

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 126 (Monday, June 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36848-36851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-14678]


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ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION


Office of Inspector General; Privacy Act of 1974; System of 
Records

AGENCY: Office of Inspector General, U.S. Election Assistance 
Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Election Assistance Commission Office of Inspector 
General is establishing a new system or records, ``Office of Inspector 
General Investigative Records,'' subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended. The new system of records is necessary to fulfill the duties 
of the Office of Inspector General, including, but not limited to (1) 
investigations of complaints; investigations of cases referred to OIG; 
and reports and correspondence in conjunction with any such 
investigation.

DATES: Effective Date: The proposed amendments will be effective 
without further notice on July 30, 2008 unless comments received 
require a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Curtis Crider, Inspector General, 
Office of Inspector General, 1225 New York Avenue, NW., Suite 1100, 
Washington, DC 20005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Curtis Crider, Inspector General (202) 
566-3125.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11) provides that 
the

[[Page 36849]]

public be afforded a 30-day period in which to comment on this creation 
of a system of records. Additionally, a copy of this notice has been 
submitted to the Committee on Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, 
and the Office of Management and Budget, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(r).
    The Office of Inspector General Investigative Files consists of 
paper records maintained in folders, binders and logbooks; and various 
records in electronic form. The folders, binders and logbooks are 
stored in the Office of Inspector General's file cabinets and offices. 
The electronic records are maintained on a file server and backup 
tapes. The records are retrieved by the name of the subject of the 
investigation or inquiry, Records are only accessible to OIG staff 
authorized to review such records and only for the purpose of 
performing investigations.

System name:
    Office of Inspector General (OIG) Investigative Records.

Security Classification:
    Records in this system are sensitive but unclassified.

System location:
    Office of Inspector General, EAC, 1225 New York Avenue, Suite 150, 
Washington DC 20005.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Subjects of investigation, complainants, and witnesses referred to 
in complaints or actual investigative cases, reports, accompanying 
documents, and correspondence prepared by, compiled by, or referred to 
the OIG.

Categories of records in the system:
    The system is comprised of paper and electronic files of OIG 
investigative reports, correspondence, cases, matters, cross-indices, 
memoranda, materials, legal papers, evidence, exhibits, data, and 
workpapers pertaining to all closed and pending investigations and 
inspections.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App.3.

Purpose:
    These records are used to document the conduct and outcome of 
inquiries, complaints, and investigations concerning allegations of 
fraud, waste, and abuse that affect the EAC. The information is used to 
report the results of investigations to EAC management, contractors, 
grantees, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, Congress, and others 
for an action deemed appropriate. These records are used also to retain 
sufficient information to fulfill reporting requirements and to 
maintain records related to the OIG's activities.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses as follows:
    Information from this system of records may be disclosed:
    1. To any other Federal agency or any foreign, State, tribal, or 
local government agency responsible for enforcing, investigating, or 
prosecuting violations of administrative, civil, or criminal law or 
regulation where that information is relevant to an enforcement 
proceeding, investigation, or prosecution within the agency's 
jurisdiction.
    2. To (1) The Department of Justice in connection with requests for 
legal advice and in connection with actual or potential criminal 
prosecutions or civil litigation pertaining to the Office of Inspector 
General, and (2) a Federal or State grand jury, a Federal or State 
court, administrative tribunal, opposing counsel, or witnesses in the 
course of civil or criminal proceedings pertaining to the Office of 
Inspector General.
    3. To a Federal, State, tribal, or local agency maintaining civil, 
criminal or other relevant enforcement records or other pertinent 
records, such as current licenses, if necessary to obtain a record 
relevant to an agency decision concerning the hiring or retention of an 
employee, the issuance of a license, grant or other benefit.
    4. To a Federal agency in response to its request in connection 
with the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security 
clearance, the reporting of an investigation of an employee, the 
letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license grant, or other 
benefit by the requesting agency, to the extent that the record is 
relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the 
matter.
    5. To the news media and general public where there exists a 
legitimate public interest, e.g., to provide information on events in 
the criminal process, such as indictments, and where necessary, for 
protection from imminent threat to life or property.
    6. To Federal agencies' issuing a subpoena, such as the Internal 
Revenue Service.
    7. To independent auditors or other private firms with which the 
Office of the Inspector General has contracted to carry out an 
independent audit or investigation, or to collate, aggregate, or 
otherwise refine data collected in the system or records. These 
contractors will be required to maintain Privacy Act safeguards with 
respect to such records.
    8. In the course of employee discipline of competence determination 
proceedings.
    9. To a congressional office from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry from the congressional office made at the 
request of the individual.
    10. To the Department of Justice, to a judicial or administrative 
tribunal, opposing counsel, and witnesses, in the course of proceedings 
involving EAC, an EAC employee (where the matter pertains to the 
employee's official duties), or the United States, or any agency 
thereof where the litigation is likely to affect EAC or EAC is a party 
or has an interest in the litigation and the use of the information is 
relevant and necessary to the litigation.
    11. To a Federal, State, tribal or local agency maintaining 
pertinent records, if necessary, to obtain a record relevant to a 
Commission decision concerning the hiring or retention of an employee, 
the issuance of a security clearance, the letting of a contract, or the 
issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit.
    12. To third party contacts, including public and private 
organizations, in order to obtain information relevant and necessary to 
the investigation of potential violations in EAC programs and 
operations, or where disclosure would enable the OIG to identify 
violations in EAC programs or operations or otherwise assist the OIG in 
pursuing on-going investigations.
    13. To any official charged with the responsibility to conduct 
qualitative assessment reviews of internal safeguards and management 
procedures employed in investigative operations. This disclosure 
category includes members of the President's Council on Integrity and 
Efficiency and the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency 
including officials and administrative staff within their investigative 
chain of command, as well as authorized officials of the Department of 
Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Recipients shall be 
required to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act.
    14. To a contractor, grantee or other direct recipient of federal 
funds to allow such entity to effect corrective action in agency's best 
interest. A record from a system of records may be disclosed, as a 
routine use, to any direct or indirect recipient of federal funds where 
such record reflects serious inadequacies with a recipient's personnel, 
and disclosure of the record is made to

[[Page 36850]]

permit a recipient to take corrective action beneficial to the 
Government.
    15. To a board of contract appeals, GAO or any other entity hearing 
a contractor protest or dispute. A record from a system of records may 
be disclosed, as a routine use, to the United States General Accounting 
Office, to a board of contract appeals, or to the claims court in bid 
protest cases or contract dispute cases involving procurement.
    16. To OMB or DOJ regarding Freedom of Information Act and Privacy 
Act advice. Information from a system of records may be disclosed, as a 
routine use, to the Office of Management and Budget or the Department 
of Justice in order to obtain advice regarding statutory or other 
requirements under the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act.
    17. To the White House in response to an inquiry made at the 
written request of the individual about whom the record is maintained. 
Disclosure will not be made until the White House has furnished 
appropriate documentation of the individual's request, such as a copy 
of the individual's written request.
    18. To a Congressional office from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry from the Congressional office made at the 
written request of the individual about whom the record is maintained. 
Disclosure will not be made until the Congressional office has 
furnished appropriate documentation of the individual's request, such 
as a copy of the individual's written request.
    19. To the National Archives and Records Administration or to the 
General Services Administration for records management inspections 
conducted under 44 U.S.C. 2903 and 2904.
    20. To agency or OIG contractors (including employees of 
contractors), grantees, experts, or volunteers who have been engaged to 
assist the agency or OIG in the performance of a contract, service, 
grant, cooperative agreement, or other activity related to this system 
of records and who need to have access to the records in order to 
perform the activity for the agency or OIG. Recipients shall be 
required to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act.
    21. To officials who have been engaged to assist the Office of 
Inspector General in the conduct of inquiries, complaints, and 
investigations who need to have access to the records in order to 
perform the work. This disclosure category includes members of the 
President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency and the Executive 
Council on Integrity and Efficiency, and officials and administrative 
staff within their chain of command. Recipients shall be required to 
comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act.
    22. To the Office of Personnel Management for matters concerned 
with oversight activities (necessary for the Office of Personnel 
Management to carry out its legally-authorized Government-wide 
personnel management programs and functions) and in their role as an 
investigation agency.
    23. To debt collection contractors to collect debts owed to the 
Government, as authorized under the Debt Collection Act of 1982, 31 
U.S.C. 3718, and subject to the Privacy Act safeguards.
    24. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) It is 
suspected or confirmed that the security or confidentiality of 
information in the system of records has been compromised; (2) the 
Commission has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or 
integrity of this system or other systems or programs (whether 
maintained by the Commission or another agency or entity) that rely 
upon the compromised information; and (3) the disclosure is made to 
such agencies, entities, and persons who are reasonably necessary to 
assist in connection with the Commission's efforts to respond to the 
suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such 
harm.

Disclosure To Consumer Reporting Agencies:
    We may disclose the record or information from this system, 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12), to consumer reporting agencies as 
defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(f) or the 
Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, as amended, 31 U.S.C. 
3701(a)(3), in accordance with section 3711(f) of Title 31.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    Records are stored in both a paper and electronic format.

Retrievability:
    The records may be retrieved by the name of the subject of the 
complaint/ investigation or by a unique control number assigned to each 
complaint/ investigation.

Safeguards:
    Access is limited to Office of Inspector General employees whose 
official duties require access. The paper records and electronic 
information not stored on computers are maintained in lockable 
cabinets. Information stored on computers is on a server located in a 
locked room. All electronic records are protected from unauthorized 
access through appropriate administrative, physical, and technical 
safeguards. These safeguards include the application of appropriate 
access control mechanisms to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and 
availability of those records are only accessed by those with a need to 
know and dictated by their official duties.

Retention and Disposal:
    These records will be maintained permanently until disposition 
authority is granted by the National Archives and Records 
Administration. Upon approval, the records will be retained in 
accordance with NARA's schedule and disposed of in a secure manner.

System manager(s) and address:
    Inspector General, Office of Inspector General, EAC, 1225 New York 
Avenue, Suite 150, Washington, DC 20005.

Notification procedure:
    The OIG Investigative Files are generally exempt pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 552a(j)(2) and (k)(2). Any individual who wants to know whether 
this system of records contains a record about him or her, who wants 
access to his or her record, or who wants to contest the contents of a 
record, should make a written request to the System Manager. Requesters 
will be required to provide adequate identification, such as a driver's 
license, employee identification card, or other identifying document. 
Additional identification procedures may be required in some instances.

Record access procedures:
    Same as ``Notification procedure.''

Contesting record procedures:
    Same as ``Notification procedure.''

Record source categories:
    The OIG collects information from many sources, including the 
subject individuals, employees of the EAC, other government employees, 
and witnesses and informants, and non-governmental sources.

Systems Exempted from Certain Provisions of the Act:
    (a) Criminal Law Enforcement: Information compiled for this purpose 
is exempt from all of the provisions of the

[[Page 36851]]

Act except the following sections: (b), (c)(1) and (2), (e)(4)(A) 
through (F), (e)(6), (7), (9), (10), and (11), and (i). This material 
is exempt because the disclosure and other requirements of the Act 
would substantially compromise the efficacy and integrity of OIG 
operations in a number of ways. Indeed, disclosure of even the 
existence of these files would be problematic.
    Disclosure could enable suspects to take action to prevent 
detection of criminal activities, conceal evidence, or escape 
prosecution. Required disclosure of information contained in this 
system could lead to the intimidation of, or harm to, informants, 
witnesses and their respective families or OIG personnel and their 
families.
    Disclosure could invade the privacy of individuals other than 
subjects and disclose their identity when confidentiality was promised 
to them. Disclosures from these files could interfere with the 
integrity of other information which would otherwise be privileged, 
see, e.g., 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5) and which could interfere with other 
important law enforcement concerns, see, e.g., 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7).
    The requirement that only relevant and necessary information be 
included in a criminal investigative file is contrary to good 
investigative practices which require a full and complete inquiry and 
exhaustion of all potential sources of information. 5 U.S.C. 
552a(e)(1). Similarly, maintaining only those records which are 
accurate, relevant, timely and complete and which assure fairness in a 
determination is contrary to established investigative techniques. 5 
U.S.C. 552a(e)(5). Requiring investigators to obtain information to the 
greatest extent practicable directly from the subject individual would 
be counterproductive to performance of a clandestine criminal 
investigation. 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(2). Finally, providing notice to an 
individual interviewed of the authority of the interviewer, the purpose 
to which the information provided may be used, the routine uses of that 
information and the effect upon the individual should he choose not to 
provide the information sought could discourage the free flow of 
information in a criminal law enforcement inquiry 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(3).
    (b) Other Law Enforcement: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), 
investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes (to the 
extent it is not already exempted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2)), is exempted 
from the following provisions of the ACT: (c)(3), (d), (e)(1), 
(e)(4)(G), (H), (I) and (f). This material is exempt because the 
disclosure and other requirements of the act could substantially 
compromise the efficacy and integrity of OIG operations. Disclosure 
could invade the privacy of other individuals and disclose their 
identity when they were expressly promised confidentiality.
    Disclosure could interfere with the integrity of information which 
would otherwise be subject to privileges, see, e.g., 5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(5), and which could interfere with other important law 
enforcement concerns. See, e.g., 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7).

    Signed:
Curtis Crider,
Inspector General, U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
[FR Doc. E8-14678 Filed 6-27-08; 8:45 am]
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