Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency-001 National Emergency Family Registry and Locator System of Records, 53918-53921 [2011-22167]

Agencies

• Office of the Secretary
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 168 (Tuesday, August 30, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53918-53921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22167]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DHS-2011-0045]


Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security/Federal 
Emergency Management Agency--001 National Emergency Family Registry and 
Locator System of Records

AGENCY: Privacy Office, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of 
Homeland Security proposes to update and reissue a current Department 
of Homeland Security system of records titled, ``Department of Homeland 
Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency--001 National Emergency 
Family Registry and Locator System of Records.'' This system of records 
allows the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management 
Agency to collect and maintain records on adults displaced from their 
homes or pre-disaster location after a Presidentially-declared 
emergency or disaster. This system of records has been updated to 
include Law Enforcement Officials in categories of records, 
individuals, routine uses, and record source categories. This updated 
system will be included in the Department of Homeland Security's 
inventory of record systems.

DATES: Submit comments on or before September 29, 2011. This new system 
will be effective September 29, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2011-0045 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: For general questions please contact: 
Dr. Lesia Banks, (202-212-4491), Acting Privacy Officer, Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20475. 
For privacy issues please contact: Mary Ellen Callahan (703-235-0780), 
Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, Department of Homeland Security, 
Washington, DC 20528.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA) proposes to update and reissue a current DHS/FEMA system 
of records titled, ``DHS/FEMA-001 National Emergency Family Registry 
and Locator (NEFRLS) System of Records,'' 74 FR 48767, September 29, 
2009.
    The DHS/FEMA NEFRLS System of Records collects information from Law 
Enforcement Officials (LEOs) for the purpose of responding to a Missing 
Persons Report. The information collected from LEOs is to facilitate 
identity verification and their status as a member of law enforcement.
    During Hurricane Katrina, displaced individuals experienced 
numerous difficulties in reuniting with family members after the 
disaster. As a result, Congress mandated in Section 689c of the Post-
Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA) of 2006, Public Law 
109-295, that FEMA establish NEFRLS. FEMA has the discretionary 
authority to activate NEFRLS to help reunify families separated after 
an emergency or disaster declared by the President as defined in the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 
U.S.C. 5121-5207.
    The collection of a LEO's indentifying information increased the 
amount of identifying information collected and maintained by the DHS/
FEMA-001 NEFRLS System of Records. Information collected is stored on 
FEMA secured servers, and/or stored in locked cabinets with secured 
facility access controls.
    Previously, the DHS/FEMA-001 NEFRLS System of Records only allowed 
two groups of individuals limited access. The groups were: (1) 
Registrants: displaced individuals registered in the system; and (2) 
searchers: individuals who are searching for family or household 
members who registered in the system. The DHS/FEMA-001 NEFRLS System of 
Records now allows FEMA NEFRLS Administrators to have limited access to 
records for the purpose of sharing registrants' information with LEOs 
pursuant to an official missing persons report. This increases the 
likelihood of reunifying family and friends displaced by a 
Presidentially-declared emergency or disaster.

[[Page 53919]]

    The following categories are being updated: Categories of 
individuals is updated to clarify and specifically include LEOs; 
Categories of Records is updated to include LEO indentifying 
information (such as Badge Number) and LEO verification indicators; 
Routine Uses is updated to clearly identify sharing with Federal, 
state, local, tribal, territorial, international, or foreign LEOs; and 
Records Source Categories is updated to include LEOs as a source.
    This updated system will be included in DHS's inventory of record 
systems.

II. Privacy Act

    The Privacy Act embodies fair information practice principles in a 
statutory framework governing the means by which the U.S. Government 
collects, maintains, uses, and disseminates individuals' records. 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 U.S. 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.
    Below is the description of the DHS/FEMA-001 NEFRLS 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/FEMA-001

System name:
    DHS/FEMA-001 National Emergency Family Registry and Locator System 
(NEFRLS) System of Records.

Security classification:
    Unclassified.

System location:
    Records are maintained at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, DC and 
field offices.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Registrants (adult individual(s)) who have been displaced by a 
Presidentially-declared disaster or emergency and who voluntarily 
register in NEFRLS; family or household members who are travelling with 
the registrant or who lived in the pre-disaster residence immediately 
preceding the disaster; and searchers who are searching for missing 
family or household members.
    Searchers are permitted to view personal information and/or 
messages of certain registrant(s) upon designation by the 
registrant(s).
    Federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, international, or 
foreign Law Enforcement Officials (LEOs) that are searching for missing 
persons that may have been displaced by a Presidentially-declared 
disaster or emergency pursuant to an Official Missing Persons Report.

Categories of records in the system:
    Information about the individual registering in NEFRLS as a 
registrant consists of:
     Authenticated Individual's Full Name;
     Date of Birth;
     Gender;
     Current Phone;
     Alternate Phone;
     Current Address;
     Pre-Disaster Address;
     Name and Type of Current Location; (i.e. shelter, hotel, 
or family/friend's home);
     Traveling with Pets (Yes or No);
     Identity Authentication Approval or Nonapproval (the fact 
of the authentication is maintained, but the answers to the questions 
provided to the third party organization are not maintained by DHS/
FEMA);
     System Specific Username and Password; and
     Personal Message (may consist of up to 300 characters 
intended for designated family or household members to read).
    Information about the family/household members traveling with the 
registrant in NEFRLS consists of:
     Family/Household Members' Full Name;
     Gender;
     Current Phone;
     Alternate Phone;
     Current Address;
     Pre-Disaster address;
     Name and type of current location; (i.e., shelter, hotel, 
or family/friend's home);
     Traveling with Pets (Yes or No);
     Personal Message: (may consist of up to 300 characters for 
listed, designated family, or household members to read.)
    Information about the individual searching NEFRLS for a registrant 
or family/household member (searcher) consists of:
     Searching Individual's Full Name;
     Permanent Address;
     Phone;
     Alternate Phone;
     E-mail;
     Date of Birth;
     Identity Authentication Approval or Nonapproval (the fact 
of the authentication is maintained, but the answers to the questions 
provided to the third party organization are not maintained by DHS/
FEMA); and
     System Specific Username and Password.
    Information about a LEO collected by a FEMA NEFRLS Administrator 
for verification and status:
     Law Enforcement Official's Title;
     First Name;
     Last Name;
     Gender;
     Badge number/Law Enforcement License ID Number;
     Agency Name;
     City;
     County/Parish;
     State;
     Zip Code;
     Contact Phone;
     Contact E-mail;
     Supervisor Name;
     Supervisor Contact Number;
     Supervisor Contact E-mail;
     Agency City;
     Agency County/Parish;
     Agency State; and
     Verification Data. The verification process below 
indicates that there is a confirmed box to be checked for successful 
verification.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    Section 689c of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 
2006, Public Law 109-295 and the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5121-5207.

Purpose(s):
    The purpose of this system is to reunify families and household 
members following a Presidentially-declared disaster or emergency. To 
families using NEFRLS, the registrant, and searcher must acknowledge 
that the information in NEFRLS may be disclosed to searchers upon 
request, to Federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, international, 
or foreign agencies including LEO as well as voluntary agencies.

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

[[Page 53920]]

disclosed outside DHS as a routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) 
as follows:
    A. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), including U.S. Attorney 
Offices, or other Federal agency conducting litigation or in 
proceedings before any court, adjudicative or administrative body, when 
it is necessary to the litigation and one of the following is a party 
to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation:
    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 U.S. 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 (NARA) 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. DHS 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) or harm to the 
individual that rely upon the compromised information; 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, local, tribal, territorial, 
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 appropriate authorized Federal, state, local, tribal, 
territorial, international, or foreign law enforcement officers charged 
with investigating the whereabouts or locating missing persons.
    I. To the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and 
voluntary organizations as defined in 44 CFR 206.2(a)(27) that have an 
established disaster assistance program to address the disaster-related 
unmet needs of disaster victims, are actively involved in the recovery 
efforts of the disaster, and either have a national membership, in good 
standing, with the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, 
or are participating in the disaster's Long-Term Recovery Committee for 
the express purpose of reunifying families.
    J. To Federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, international, or 
foreign agencies that coordinate with FEMA under the National Response 
Framework (an integrated plan explaining how the Federal government 
will interact with and support state, local, tribal, territorial, and 
non-governmental entities during a Presidentially-declared disaster or 
emergency) for the purpose of assisting with the investigation on the 
whereabouts of or locating missing persons.

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 name, address, and phone number of the 
individual registering or searching in the National Emergency Family 
Registry and Locator System.

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.

Retention and disposal:
    In accordance with the FEMA Records Schedule (FRS) and NARA 
Disposition Authority number N1-311-09-1, records and reports related 
to and regarding registrations and searchers in NEFRLS performed by a 
displaced person, Call Center Operator on behalf of a displaced person, 
or family and friends will be cut off 60 days after the last edit to 
the record and destroyed/deleted three years after the cutoff. 
Additionally, in compliance with FRS and NARA Disposition Authority 
number N1-311-04-5, Item 3, records in this system associated with a 
domestic catastrophic event will have permanent value. A catastrophic 
event may be any natural or manmade incident, including terrorism, 
which results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or 
disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, 
environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions. A 
catastrophic event could result in sustained national impacts over a 
prolonged period of time; almost immediately exceeds resources normally 
available to state, local, tribal, territorial and private-sector 
authorities in the impacted area; and significantly interrupts 
governmental operations and emergency services to such an extent

[[Page 53921]]

that national security could be threatened.

System Manager and address:
    Deputy Director, Individual Assistance, Disaster Assistance 
Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20472.

Notification procedure:
    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 FEMA's FOIA Officer, 500 C Street, 
SW., Attn: FOIA Coordinator, Washington, DC 20472.
    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 Chief Privacy 
Officer and Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer, 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; 
and
     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) may 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:
    Records are obtained from registrants of NEFRLS and individuals 
searching NEFRLS, LEOs, and the third party authentication service 
indicating an individual has been approved or not approved.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.

    Dated: July 25, 2011.
Mary Ellen Callahan,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2011-22167 Filed 8-29-11; 8:45 am]
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