Privacy Act of 1974: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-005 Trade Transparency Analysis and Research (TTAR) System of Records, 39083-39087 [E9-18623]

Agencies

• Office of the Secretary
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 5, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39083-39087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-18623]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DHS-2009-0050]


Privacy Act of 1974: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--
005 Trade Transparency Analysis and Research (TTAR) System of Records

AGENCY: Privacy office, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of privacy act system of records.

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SUMMARY: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is re-
publishing the system of records notice (SORN) for the Trade 
Transparency Analysis and Research (TTAR) system. No comments were 
received through the Federal Register comment procedure. TTAR contains 
trade and financial data that is analyzed to generate leads for and 
otherwise support ICE investigations of trade-based money laundering, 
contraband smuggling, trade fraud, and other financial crimes. The data 
in TTAR is generally maintained in the ICE Data Analysis and Research 
Trade Transparency System (DARTTS), a software application and data 
repository that conducts analysis of trade and financial data to 
identify statistically anomalous transactions that may warrant 
investigation for money laundering or other import-export crimes. 
Additionally, a Privacy Impact Assessment for DARTTS has been posted on 
the Department's privacy Web site. (See www.dhs.gov/privacy and follow 
the link to ``Privacy Impact Assessments.'') A final rule is also being 
published in this issue of the Federal Register in which the Department 
exempts portions of this system of records from one or more provisions 
of the Privacy Act because of criminal, civil, and administrative 
enforcement requirements.

DATES: The established system of records was effective as of December 
1, 2008, based upon the prior TTAR system of records notice published 
on October 31, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2009-0050 by one of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 703-483-2999.
     Mail: Mary Ellen Callahan, Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy 
Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
     Instructions: All submissions received must include the 
agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments 
received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided.
     Docket: For access to the docket, to read background 
documents, or comments received go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyn Rahilly, Privacy Officer, (202-
732-3300), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 500 12th Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20024, e-mail: ICEPrivacy@dhs.gov, or Mary Ellen 
Callahan (703-235-0780), Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Trade Transparency Analysis and Research (TTAR) system of 
records is owned by the ICE Office of Investigations Trade Transparency 
Unit (TTU) and is maintained for the purpose of enforcing criminal laws 
pertaining to trade through trade transparency. Trade transparency is 
the concept of examining U.S. and foreign trade data to identify 
anomalies in patterns of trade. Such anomalies can indicate trade-based 
money laundering or other import-export crimes that ICE is responsible 
for investigating, such as contraband smuggling, trafficking of 
counterfeit goods, misclassification of goods, and the over- or under-
valuation of goods to hide the proceeds of illegal activities. TTAR 
contains trade and financial data received from U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP), U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network (FinCEN), other Federal agencies and foreign 
governments. TTAR data is primarily related to international commercial 
trade and contains little information on the normal day-to-day 
activities of individual consumers.
    As part of the trade transparency investigative process, ICE 
investigators and analysts must understand the relationships between 
importers and exporters and the financing for a set of trade 
transactions to determine which transactions are suspicious and warrant 
investigation. If performed manually, this process often involves hours 
of analysis of voluminous data for a particular case or operation. To 
automate and expedite this process, the former U.S. Customs Service 
created the Data Analysis and Research Trade Transparency System 
(DARTTS), a software application and data repository that conducts 
analysis of trade and financial data to identify statistically 
anomalous transactions that may warrant investigation for money 
laundering or other import-export crimes. DARTTS is specifically 
designed to make this investigative process more efficient by 
automating the analysis and identification of anomalies for the 
investigator. While DARTTS does increase the efficiency of data 
analysis, DARTTS does not allow ICE

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agents and analysts to obtain any data they could not otherwise access 
in the course of their investigative activities.
    DARTTS does not seek to predict future behavior or ``profile'' 
individuals, i.e., look for individuals who meet a certain pattern of 
behavior that has been pre-determined to be suspect. Instead, it 
analyzes and identifies trade and financial transactions that are 
statistically anomalous. Investigators gather additional facts, verify 
the accuracy of the DARTTS data, and use their judgment and experience 
to determine if the anomalous transactions are in fact suspicious and 
warrant further investigation. Not all anomalies lead to formal 
investigations. DARTTS can also identify links (relationships) between 
individuals or entities based on commonalities, such as identification 
numbers, addresses, or other information. These commonalities in and of 
themselves are not suspicious, but in the context of additional 
information they sometimes help investigators to identify potentially 
criminal activity and identify other suspicious transactions, 
witnesses, or suspects.
    With the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
in 2003, the criminal investigative arm of the U.S. Customs Service, 
which included the TTU and the DARTTS system, was transferred to ICE. 
As part of DHS's ongoing effort to ensure legacy records transferred to 
DHS are maintained in compliance with the Privacy Act, ICE proposes to 
establish this new system of records to cover the data ICE maintains 
for trade transparency analysis, including the data maintained in 
DARTTS. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was conducted on DARTTS 
because it maintains personally identifiable information. The DARTTS 
PIA is available on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy 
Office Web site at www.dhs.gov/privacy.
    Individuals may request information about records pertaining to 
them stored in DARTTS as outlined in the ``Notification Procedure'' 
section below. ICE reserves the right to exempt various records from 
release pursuant to exemptions 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2) and (k)(2) of the 
Privacy Act.
    Consistent with DHS's information sharing mission, information 
stored in the DARTTS may be shared with other DHS components, with 
foreign governments with whom DHS has entered into international 
information sharing agreements for trade data for the purpose of 
enforcing customs laws, and with appropriate Federal, State, local, 
tribal, foreign, or international government agencies. This sharing 
will only take place after DHS determines that the receiving component 
or agency has a need to know the information to carry out national 
security, law enforcement, immigration, intelligence, or other 
functions consistent with the routine uses set forth in this system of 
records notice.
    Because TTAR contains information that relates to official DHS 
national security, law enforcement, immigration, and intelligence 
activities and is used in support of those activities, the Department 
published a proposed rulemaking seeking to exempt the TTAR system of 
records from various provisions of the Privacy Act, including the 
requirement that individuals be provided access to and correction of 
their own records. These exemptions are permitted by the Privacy Act 
and are needed to protect information relating to DHS law enforcement 
or intelligence activities from disclosure to subjects or others 
related to these activities. For a complete discussion of the specific 
exemptions proposed and the reasons they were claimed, please see the 
notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, 73 FR 64890 
(Oct. 31, 2008). A final rulemaking is published concurrently to this 
notice in this issue of the Federal Register.

Public Comments

    In the October 31, 2008 publication of the TTAR SORN, the 
Department requested public comments on the SORN and the proposed 
rulemaking. ICE received no public comments and concluded that no 
changes to the SORN are warranted at this time.

II. Privacy Act

    The Privacy Act embodies fair information principles in a statutory 
framework governing the means by which the United States Government 
collects, maintains, uses, and disseminates personally identifiable 
information. The Privacy Act applies to information that is maintained 
in a ``system of records.'' A ``system of records'' is a group of any 
records under the control of an agency for which information is 
retrieved by the name of an individual or by some identifying number, 
symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual. In 
the Privacy Act, an individual is defined to encompass United States 
citizens and lawful permanent residents. As a matter of policy, DHS 
extends administrative Privacy Act protections to all individuals where 
systems of records maintain information on U.S. citizens, lawful 
permanent residents, and visitors. Individuals may request access to 
their own records that are maintained in a system of records in the 
possession or under the control of DHS by complying with DHS Privacy 
Act regulations, 6 CFR Part 5.
    The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish in the Federal 
Register a description denoting the type and character of each system 
of records that the agency maintains, and the routine uses that are 
contained in each system in order to make agency record keeping 
practices transparent, to notify individuals regarding the uses to 
which personally identifiable information is put, and to assist 
individuals to more easily find such files within the agency. Below is 
the description of the TTAR system of records.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), DHS has provided a report of 
this system of records to the Office of Management and Budget and to 
Congress.

System of Records:
    DHS/ICE-005.

System name:
    Trade Transparency Analysis and Research (TTAR).

Security Classification:
    Sensitive But Unclassified.

System Location:
    Records are maintained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
Headquarters in Washington, DC.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    Categories of individuals covered by this system include: (a) 
Individuals who, as importers, exporters, shippers, transporters, 
brokers, owners, purchasers, consignees, or agents thereof, participate 
in the import or export of goods to or from the U.S. or to or from 
nations with which the U.S. has entered an agreement to share trade 
information; and (b) individuals who participate in financial 
transactions that are reported to the U.S. Treasury Department under 
the Bank Secrecy Act or other U.S. financial crimes laws and 
regulations (e.g., individuals who participate in cash transactions 
exceeding $10,000; individuals who participate in a reportable 
suspicious financial transaction).

Categories of Records in the System:
    Categories of records in this system include:
     Names;
     Addresses (home or business);
     Trade identifier numbers (e.g., Importer ID, Exporter ID, 
Manufacturer ID);

[[Page 39085]]

     Social Security/tax identification numbers;
     Passport numbers;
     Account numbers (e.g., bank account);
     Description and/or value of trade goods;
     Country of origin/export; and
     Description and/or value of financial transactions.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    18 U.S.C. 545 (Smuggling goods into the United States); 18 U.S.C. 
1956 (Laundering of Monetary Instruments); and 19 U.S.C 1484 (Entry of 
Merchandise).

Purpose:
    The purpose of this system is to enforce criminal laws pertaining 
to trade, financial crimes, smuggling, and fraud, specifically through 
the analysis of raw financial and trade data in order to identify 
potential violations of U.S. criminal laws pertaining to trade, 
financial crimes, smuggling, and fraud and to support existing criminal 
law enforcement investigations into related criminal activities.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purposes of Such Uses:
    In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a portion of the records or 
information contained in this system may be disclosed outside DHS as a 
routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows:
    A. To the Department of Justice or other Federal agency conducting 
litigation or in proceedings before any court, adjudicative, or 
administrative body, when (1) DHS or any component thereof; (2) any 
employee of DHS in his/her official capacity; (3) any employee of DHS 
in his/her individual capacity where DOJ or DHS has agreed to represent 
the employee; or (4) the United States or any agency thereof, is a 
party to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation; and DHS 
determines that the records are both relevant and necessary to the 
litigation and the use of such records is compatible with the purpose 
for which DHS collected the records.
    B. To a congressional office from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry from that congressional office made at the 
request of the individual to whom the record pertains.
    C. To the National Archives and Records Administration or other 
Federal government agencies pursuant to records management inspections 
being conducted under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    D. To an agency, organization, or individual for the purpose of 
performing audit or oversight operations as authorized by law, but only 
such information as is necessary and relevant to such audit or 
oversight function.
    E. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when:
    1. DHS suspects or has confirmed that the security or 
confidentiality of information in the system of records has been 
compromised;
    2. The Department 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 DHS or another agency or entity) that rely upon the 
compromised information, or harm to an individual; and
    3. The disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is 
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with DHS's efforts to 
respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, 
or remedy such harm.
    F. To contractors and their agents, grantees, experts, consultants, 
and others performing or working on a contract, service, grant, 
cooperative agreement, or other assignment for DHS, when necessary to 
accomplish an agency function related to this system of records. 
Individuals provided information under this routine use are subject to 
the same Privacy Act requirements and limitations on disclosure as are 
applicable to DHS officers and employees.
    G. To an appropriate Federal, State, tribal, local, international, 
or foreign law enforcement agency or other appropriate authority 
charged with investigating or prosecuting a violation or enforcing or 
implementing a law, rule, regulation, or order, where a record, either 
on its face or in conjunction with other information, indicates a 
violation or potential violation of law, which includes criminal, 
civil, or regulatory violations and such disclosure is proper and 
consistent with the official duties of the person making the 
disclosure.
    H. To third parties during the course of a law enforcement 
investigation to the extent necessary to obtain information pertinent 
to the investigation, provided disclosure is appropriate to the proper 
performance of the official duties of the officer making the 
disclosure.
    I. To appropriate Federal, State, local, tribal, or foreign 
governmental agencies or multilateral governmental organizations 
responsible for investigating or prosecuting the violations of, or for 
enforcing or implementing, a statute, rule, regulation, order, license, 
or treaty where DHS determines that the information would assist in the 
enforcement of civil or criminal laws.
    J. To a Federal, State, or local agency, or other appropriate 
entity or individual, or through established liaison channels to 
selected foreign governments, in order to provide intelligence, 
counterintelligence, or other information for the purposes of 
intelligence, counterintelligence, or anti-terrorism activities 
authorized by U.S. law, Executive Order, or other applicable national 
security directive.
    K. To a Federal, State, tribal, local or foreign government agency 
or organization, or international organization, lawfully engaged in 
collecting law enforcement intelligence information, whether civil or 
criminal, or charged with investigating, prosecuting, enforcing or 
implementing civil or criminal laws, related rules, regulations or 
orders, to enable these entities to carry out their law enforcement 
responsibilities, including the collection of law enforcement 
intelligence.
    L. To international and foreign governmental authorities in 
accordance with law and formal or informal international agreements.
    M. To Federal and foreign government intelligence or 
counterterrorism agencies when DHS reasonably believes there to be a 
threat or potential threat to national or international security for 
which the information may be useful in countering the threat or 
potential threat, when DHS reasonably believes such use is to assist in 
anti-terrorism efforts, and disclosure is appropriate to the proper 
performance of the official duties of the person making the disclosure.
    N. To appropriate Federal, State, local, tribal, or foreign 
governmental agencies or multilateral governmental organizations where 
DHS is aware of a need to utilize relevant data for purposes of testing 
new technology and systems designed to enhance national security or 
identify other violations of law.
    O. To the news media and the public, with the approval of the Chief 
Privacy Officer in consultation with counsel, when there exists a 
legitimate public interest in the disclosure of the information or when 
disclosure is necessary to preserve confidence in the integrity of DHS 
or is necessary to demonstrate the accountability of DHS's officers, 
employees, or individuals

[[Page 39086]]

covered by the system, except to the extent it is determined that 
release of the specific information in the context of a particular case 
would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    None.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    Records in this system are stored electronically or on paper in 
secure facilities in a locked drawer behind a locked door. The records 
are stored on magnetic disc, tape, digital media, and CD-ROM.

Retrievability:
    Records may be retrieved by any of the personal identifiers stored 
in the system including name, business address, home address, importer 
ID, exporter ID, broker ID, manufacturer ID, social security number, 
trade and tax identifying numbers, passport number, or account number. 
Records may also be retrieved by non-personal information such as 
transaction date, entity/institution name, description of goods, value 
of transactions, and other information.

Safeguards:
    Records in this system are safeguarded in accordance with 
applicable rules and policies, including all applicable DHS automated 
systems security and access policies. Strict controls have been imposed 
to minimize the risk of compromising the information that is being 
stored. Access to the computer system containing the records in this 
system is limited to those individuals who have a need to know the 
information for the performance of their official duties and who have 
appropriate clearances or permissions. The system maintains a real-time 
auditing function of individuals who access the system.

Retention and Disposal:
    ICE is in the process of drafting a proposed record retention 
schedule for the information maintained in TTAR. ICE anticipates 
retaining the records in TTAR for five years and then archiving records 
for five additional years, for a total retention period of ten years. 
The five-year retention period for records is necessary to create a 
data set large enough to effectively analyze anomalies and patterns of 
behavior in trade transactions. Records older than five years will be 
archived for five additional years and will only be used to provide a 
historical basis for anomalies in current trade activity. The original 
CD-ROMs containing the raw data will be retained for five years for the 
purpose of data integrity and system maintenance.

System Manager(s) and Address:
    Unit Chief, Trade Transparency Unit, ICE Office of Investigations, 
500 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20024.

Notification Procedures:
    The Secretary of Homeland Security has exempted this system from 
notification, access, and amendment because of the law enforcement 
nature of the information. However, ICE will review requests on a case 
by case and release information as appropriate. Thus, individuals 
seeking notification of and access to any record contained in this 
system of records, or seeking to contest its content, may submit a 
request in writing to the component's FOIA Officer, whose contact 
information can be found at https://www.dhs.gov/foia under ``contacts.'' 
If an individual believes more than one component maintains Privacy Act 
records concerning him or her the individual may submit the request to 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 245 Murray 
Drive, SW., Building 410, STOP-0655, Washington, DC 20528.
    When seeking records about yourself from this system of records or 
any other Departmental system of records your request must conform with 
the Privacy Act regulations set forth in 6 CFR Part 5. You must first 
verify your identity, meaning that you must provide your full name, 
current address and date and place of birth. You must sign your 
request, and your signature must either be notarized or submitted under 
28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to be made under penalty 
of perjury as a substitute for notarization. While no specific form is 
required, you may obtain forms for this purpose from the Director, 
Disclosure and FOIA, https://www.dhs.gov or 1-866-431-0486. In addition 
you should provide the following:
     An explanation of why you believe the Department would 
have information on you,
     Identify which component(s) of the Department you believe 
may have the information about you,
     Specify when you believe the records would have been 
created,
     Provide any other information that will help the FOIA 
staff determine which DHS component agency may have responsive records,
     If your request is seeking records pertaining to another 
living individual, you must include a statement from that individual 
certifying his/her agreement for you to access his/her records.
    Without this bulleted information the component(s) will not be able 
to conduct an effective search, and your request may be denied due to 
lack of specificity or lack of compliance with applicable regulations.

Record Access Procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Contesting Record Procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Record Source Categories:
    (1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) import data collecting 
using CBP Form 7501, ``Entry Summary.''
    (2) U.S. Department of Commerce export data collected using 
Commerce Department Form 7525-V, ``Shipper's Export Declaration.''
    (3) U.S. Exports of Merchandise Dataset (a publicly available 
aggregated U.S. export dataset purchased from the U.S. Department of 
Commerce).
    (4) Foreign import and export data provided by partner countries 
pursuant to a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) or other 
similar agreement.
    (5) Financial Transaction Reports from Treasury Department's 
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), specifically: (a) 
Currency Monetary Instrument Reports (CMIRs)--Declarations of currency 
or monetary instruments in excess of $10,000 made by persons coming 
into or leaving the United States; (b) Currency Transaction Reports 
(CTRs)--Deposits or withdrawals of $10,000 or more in currency into or 
from depository institutions; (c) Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)--
Information regarding suspicious financial transactions within 
depository institutions, casinos, and the securities and futures 
industry; and (d) Report of Cash Payments over $10,000 Received in a 
Trade or Business--Report of merchandise purchased with $10,000 or more 
in currency.

Exemptions Claimed for the System:
    Pursuant to exemption 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2) of the Privacy Act, 
portions of this system are exempt from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3) and (4); 
(d); (e)(1), (e)(2), (e)(3), (e)(4)(G), (e)(4)(H), (e)(5) and (e)(8); 
(f); and (g). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), this system is exempt 
from the following provisions of the Privacy Act, subject to the 
limitations set forth in those subsections: 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), 
(e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (e)(4)(H), and (f).


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    Dated: July 30, 2009.
Mary Ellen Callahan,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. E9-18623 Filed 8-4-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-28-P