Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records, 73345-73346 [2014-28882]

Agencies

• Postal Service

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 237 (Wednesday, December 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73345-73346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28882]


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POSTAL SERVICE


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM.

ACTION: Notice of modification to existing system of records.

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SUMMARY: The United States Postal Service[supreg] (Postal Service) is 
proposing to modify one Customer Privacy Act System of Records. These 
modifications are being made to support the implementation of a revenue 
assurance system to ensure the accuracy of postage payment across 
payment systems.

DATES: These revisions will become effective without further notice on 
January 9, 2015 unless comments received on or before that date result 
in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed or delivered to the Privacy and 
Records Office, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW., 
Room 9431, Washington, DC 20260-1101. Copies of all written comments 
will be available at this address for public inspection and 
photocopying between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew J. Connolly, Chief Privacy 
Officer, Privacy and Records Office, 202-268-8582 or privacy@usps.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is in accordance with the 
Privacy Act requirement that agencies publish their amended systems of 
records in the Federal Register when there is a revision, change, or 
addition. The Postal ServiceTM has reviewed this system of 
records and has determined that this Customer Privacy Act System of 
Records should be revised to modify the following entries: System name, 
system location, categories of records in the system, authority for 
maintenance of the system, routine uses of records in the system, 
including categories of users and the purpose of such uses, and 
retention and disposal.

I. Background

    The Postal Service currently sells postage through multiple payment 
systems, including postage meters and online through third party 
software providers (``PC Postage''). Frequently, the Postal Service 
identifies disparities in mailpiece characteristics or instances of 
duplicate label use, which result in mailers paying incorrect postage. 
The Postal Service will be implementing a new revenue assurance system 
involving enhanced capabilities to identify these disparities and 
recover incorrect postage revenue for mailing and shipping services. 
This new system will rely on third party software providers to assist 
with remediation and recovery of incorrect postage payments.

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

    The Postal Service is implementing a revenue assurance system to 
ensure accuracy of postage payment, primarily focused on its PC Postage 
and meter payment systems. However, certain planned enhancements will 
be leveraged across the complete range of Postal Service payment 
systems, including Postage Validation Imprinter (PVI) and the 
Electronic Verification System (eVS). The primary purpose of the 
planned system is to support recovery of postage discrepancies in an 
automated fashion, limiting manual work to maximize financial return. 
Accordingly, automated approaches will be deployed as much as possible 
across the end-to-end process. Therefore, detection of incorrectly paid 
postage will occur primarily based on piece characteristics captured 
in-line via the existing (or future equivalent) in-line sortation 
equipment. Manual approaches will be utilized strategically as 
warranted by balancing the expense of the manual activity with the 
incremental revenue recovery enabled.
    This revenue assurance system compares data collected from within 
the postal network and derived from postal operations such as the in-
line sortation equipment with data in the National Meter Account 
Tracking System (NMATS) database, Electronic Verification System (eVS) 
(for those customers using the Shortpaid model), Program Registration, 
and Product Tracking and Reporting (PTR) to determine whether accurate 
postage has been paid on mailpieces and packages.
    These data will be summarized in a report intended to be shared 
with customers through third party software providers so that each 
provider can see which of its postage accounts the Postal Service has 
identified to have paid incorrect postage on mailpieces and packages 
entered into the Postal Service system. In instances where no third 
party software vendor is employed, data will be shared directly with 
the end customer (eVS).
    The Postal Service intends to automate recovery and tracking 
through a new system. This new application will receive data on piece 
characteristics from other postal systems, assess postage for each 
piece, create and monitor customer account profiles, and provide a file 
to the provider or customer to permit financial recovery.
    In the case of PC Postage and Meters, the provider would be 
responsible for facilitating an adjustment transaction on behalf of the 
customer so that an adjustment can be made to the customer's virtual 
meter balance.
    For eVS, customer accounts will be assessed based on existing 
methodologies, which include a sampling-based approach using a Postage 
Adjustment Factor (PAF) and an alternative Shortpaid recovery 
methodology similar to that used for PC Postage. The new system 
infrastructure will be employed by eVS to streamline sampling and 
assessment processes. The primary benefits of the program are 
anticipated to be recovery of revenue shortfall and reduced future 
instances of incorrect postage payment due to disparities in piece 
characteristics or duplicate label use, leveraging enhanced 
capabilities to identify these instances and a new process for revenue 
recovery.
    The initial phase will focus on shipping services and is 
anticipated to be implemented prior to the end of Fiscal Year 2015.

III. Description of Changes to Systems of Records

    The Postal Service is modifying one system of records listed below. 
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 modifications has been sent to Congress and to the Office 
of Management and Budget for their evaluation. The Postal Service does 
not expect this amended notice to have any adverse effect on individual 
privacy rights. The affected systems are as follows:
USPS 870.200

SYSTEM NAME:
    Postage Meter and PC Postage Customer Data and Transaction Records

    Accordingly, for the reasons stated, the Postal Service proposes 
changes in the existing systems of records as follows:

[[Page 73346]]

USPS 870.200

SYSTEM NAME:
    [CHANGE TO READ]
    Postage Validation Imprint (PVI), Electronic Verification System 
(eVS), Postage Meter, and PC Postage Customer Data and Transaction 
Records

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    [CHANGE TO READ]
    USPS Headquarters, USPS facilities, Integrated Business Solutions 
Services Centers, and partner locations.
* * * * *

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    [CHANGE TO READ]
    1. Customer information: Contact name, address, and telephone 
number; registration identifiers; company name; and change of address 
information.
    2. Identification information: Customer/system ID(s), IP 
address(es), date of device installation, device ID number, device 
model number, and certificate serial number.
    3. Mailing and transaction information: Tracking ID, package 
identification code (PIC), customer provided package/transaction 
attribute data, postage paid, contract pricing, package attribute data, 
USPS collection and source system identifiers, mail piece images, and 
package destination and origin.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    [CHANGE TO READ]
    39 U.S.C. 401, 403, and 404; 39 CFR part 501.
* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS 
AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
* * * * *
    [ADD TEXT]
    b. Customer-specific records and related sampling systems in this 
system may be disclosed to relevant eVS customers, indicia providers, 
and PC Postage providers, including approved shippers, for revenue 
assurance to ensure accuracy of postage payment across payment systems, 
and to otherwise enable responsible administration of postage 
evidencing system activities.
* * * * *

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    [CHANGE TO READ]
* * * * *
    2. Other records in this system are retained up to 7 years after a 
customer ceases using a postage evidencing system.
* * * * *

Stanley F. Mires,
Attorney, Federal Requirements.
[FR Doc. 2014-28882 Filed 12-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P