83 FR 51949 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 199 (October 15, 2018)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC, Commission, or Agency) proposes to rename and modify an existing system of records, FCC/OMD-13, Information Quality Comments (formerly: FCC/OMD-13, Data Quality Comments), subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. This action is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence and character of records maintained by the agency. The FCC's Performance Evaluation and Records Management (PERM) division in the Office of Managing Director uses this system to store the public comments (submitted since FY 2003) on information disseminated by the FCC, as required under the Data Quality Act of 2001 and OMB regulations.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 199 (Monday, October 15, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51949-51951]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22361]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC, Commission, or 
Agency) proposes to rename and modify an existing system of records, 
FCC/OMD-13, Information Quality Comments (formerly: FCC/OMD-13, Data 
Quality Comments), subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. This 
action is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act to 
publish in the Federal Register notice of the existence and character 
of records maintained by the agency. The FCC's Performance Evaluation 
and Records Management (PERM) division in the Office of Managing 
Director uses this system to store the public comments (submitted since 
FY 2003) on information disseminated by the FCC, as required under the 
Data Quality Act of 2001 and OMB regulations.

DATES: This system of records will become effective on October 15, 
2018. Written comments on the system's routine uses are due by November 
14, 2018. The routine uses will become effective on November 14, 2018, 
unless written comments are received that require a contrary 
determination.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Leslie F. Smith, Privacy Manager, 
Information Technology (IT), Room 1-C216, Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554, or to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leslie F. Smith, (202) 418-0217, or 
[email protected] (and to obtain a copy of the Narrative Statement 
and the Supplementary Documentation, which includes details of the 
modifications to this system of records).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice serves to update and modify FCC/
OMD-13 as a result of the various necessary changes and updates, 
including an increased use of electronic information technology and 
format changes required by OMB Circular A-108. The substantive changes 
and modifications to the previously published version of the FCC/OMD-13 
system of records include:
    1. Renaming this SORN as FCC/OMD-13, Information Quality Comments.
    2. Updating the language in the Security Classification to follow 
OMB guidance.
    3. Minor changes to the language in the Categories of Individuals 
and Categories of Records to be consistent with the language and 
phrasing now used in the FCC's SORNs.
    4. Updating and/or revising language in five routine uses: (1) 
Public Access; (2) Adjudication and Litigation; (3) Law Enforcement and 
Investigation; (4) Congressional Inquiries; and (5) Government-wide 
Program Management and Oversight.
    5. Adding three new routine uses: (6) For Non-Federal Personnel to 
allow contractors performing or working on a contract for the Federal 
Government access to information; (7) Breach Notification to address 
real or suspected data breach situations at the FCC; and (8) Assistance 
to Federal Agencies and Entities for assistance with other Federal 
agencies' data breach situations. Routine Uses (7) and (8) are required 
by OMB Memorandum M-17-12.
    6. A new section covering Reporting to a Consumer Reporting Agency 
to address valid and overdue debts owed by individuals to the FCC under 
the Debt Collection Act, as recommended by OMB.
    7. A new records retention and disposal schedule approved by the 
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
    8. A new History section referencing the previous publication of 
this SORN in the Federal Register.
    The system of records is also being updated to reflect various 
administrative changes related to the system managers and system 
addresses; policy and practices for storage and retrieval of the 
information; administrative, technical, and physical safeguards; and 
updated notification, records access, and contesting records 
procedures.
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER
    FCC/OMD-13, Information Quality Comments.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Performance Evaluation and Records Management (PERM), Office of 
Managing Director (OMD), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 
12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Performance Evaluation and Records Management (PERM), Office of 
Managing Director (OMD), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 
12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554; or Leslie F. Smith, Privacy 
Manager, Information Technology (IT), Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC), 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554, or email 
[email protected].

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Act for Fiscal Year 2001, Public Law 106-554 sec. 515, Appendix C, 114 
Stat. 2763A-153 (2000).

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The Data Quality Act of 2001 and OMB's implementing regulations 
mandate that agencies develop and make public guidelines for commenting 
on information disseminated by that Federal agency. Further, OMB 
requires that Federal agencies publicly post on their websites the 
information quality comments deemed to meet the agency standards and 
the resolution of those comments. This system of records maintains the 
comments received from the public since the inception of this 
requirement in FY2003.

[[Page 51950]]

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Categories of individuals in this system include, but are not 
limited to members of the public who have submitted comments or 
questions through the Information Quality Comments process.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Information in this system includes, but is not limited to comments 
received through the FCC's Information Quality Comment process and, 
where appropriate, materials that are associated with the resolution of 
those comments. The system retains information about commenters, but 
will not make personally identifiable information (PII) about a 
commenter public on the FCC's website.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The sources for the information in the Information Quality Comments 
system include, but are not limited to comments submitted by members of 
the public; correspondence involved in resolving comments; and annual 
reports to OMB.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND 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 to authorized 
entities, as is determined to be relevant and necessary, outside the 
FCC as a routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows. In 
each of these cases, the FCC will determine whether disclosure of the 
records is compatible with the purpose(s) for which the records were 
collected:
    1. Public Access--In accordance with OMB's requirements (OMB 
Memorandum from John Graham, August 30, 2004, ``Posting of Information 
Quality Correction Requests and Responses'' found at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-affairs/ the complete set 
of correspondence with a qualifying Information Quality commenter is 
available on the FCC's Information Quality web page at: https://www.fcc.gov/general/information-quality-guidelines-fcc.
    2. Adjudication and Litigation--To disclose information to the 
Department of Justice (DOJ), or in a proceeding before a court or other 
administrative body before which the FCC is authorized to appear, when: 
(a) The FCC or any component thereof; or (b) any employee of the FCC in 
his or her official capacity; or (c) any employee of the FCC in his or 
her individual capacity where the DOJ or the FCC has agreed to 
represent the employee; or (d) the United States Government is a party 
to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and the use of 
such records by the DOJ or the FCC is deemed by the FCC to be relevant 
and necessary to the litigation.
    3. Law enforcement and Investigation--To disclose pertinent 
information to the appropriate Federal, State, and/or local agency 
responsible for investigating, prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing 
a statute, regulation, rule, or order, where the FCC becomes aware of 
an indication of a violation or potential violation of civil or 
criminal law or regulation.
    4. Congressional Inquiries--To provide information to a 
Congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an 
inquiry from that Congressional office made at the request of that 
individual.
    5. Government-wide Program Management and Oversight--To disclose 
information to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 
for use in its records management inspections; to the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) for oversight purposes; to the U.S. 
Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain that department's advice 
regarding disclosure obligations under the Freedom of Information Act; 
or to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to obtain that office's 
advice regarding obligations under the Privacy Act.
    6. For Non-Federal Personnel--To disclose information to 
contractors performing or working on a contract for the Federal 
Government who may require access to this system of records.
    7. Breach Notification--To disclose information to appropriate 
agencies, entities, and persons when (a) the Commission suspects or has 
confirmed that there has been a breach of the system of records; (b) 
the Commission has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to individuals, the 
Commission (including its information systems, programs, and 
operations), the Federal Government, or national security; and (c) the 
disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably 
necessary to assist in connection with the Commission's efforts to 
respond to the suspected or confirmed breach or to prevent, minimize, 
or remedy such harm.
    8. Assistance to Federal Agencies and Entities--To another Federal 
agency or Federal entity, when the Commission determines that 
information from this system is reasonably necessary to assist the 
recipient agency or entity in: (a) Responding to a suspected or 
confirmed breach or (b) preventing, minimizing, or remedying the risk 
of harm to individuals, the recipient agency or entity (including its 
information systems, program, and operations), the Federal Government, 
or national security, resulting from a suspected or confirmed breach.

REPORTING TO A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY:
    In addition to the routine uses cited above, the Commission may 
share information from this system of records with a consumer reporting 
agency regarding an individual who has not paid a valid and overdue 
debt owed to the Commission, following the procedures set out in the 
Debt Collection Act, 31 U.S.C. 3711(e).

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Any paper copies of comments received are made electronic, and once 
verified, posted on the FCC's website. Any electronic versions of 
actual comments are also posted on the FCC website.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    The Commission saves each record submitted by the name of the 
person filing it, as well as the date of submittal. The information is 
subsequently posed to www.fcc.gov by the fiscal year.
    Records are retrievable primarily by date of submittal. Under this 
hierarchy, records are retrievable by name of individual requester.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    The National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Records 
Disposition Authority Number: DAA-GRS-2017-0008-0005, requires that 
information in this system in all media types (including, but not 
limited to electronic data, records, and files, and paper documents), 
is to be destroyed six (6) years after the submission of the ``Year-End 
Information Quality Report'' to OMB or the oversight entity notice of 
approval, as appropriate, but longer retention is authorized if 
required for business use.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    Electronic records are posted on the FCC website, including any 
complaints and responses, and thus, are publicly available. The 
electronic records, files, and data are stored within FCC

[[Page 51951]]

accreditation boundaries. Access to the electronic files is restricted 
to IT staff, contractors, and vendors who maintain the networks and 
services. Other FCC employees, contractors, vendors, and users may be 
granted access on a ``need-to-know'' basis. The FCC's data is protected 
by the FCC and third party privacy safeguards, a comprehensive and 
dynamic set of IT safety and security protocols and features that are 
designed to meet all Federal IT privacy standards, including those 
required by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 
(FISMA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
    Any paper copies of comments received are made electronic and 
destroyed by shredding after the electronic version is verified as 
allowed by NARA. Only authorized PERM staff and contractors may have 
access to these documents. Other FCC employees and contractors may be 
granted access as required, for specific purposes.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals wishing to request access to and/or amendment of 
records about them should follow the Notification Procedure below.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Individuals wishing to request an amendment of records about them 
should follow the Notification Procedure below.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Individuals wishing to determine whether this system of records 
contains information about them may do so by writing to Leslie F. 
Smith, Privacy Manager, Information Technology (IT), Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 
20554, or email [email protected].
    Individuals must furnish reasonable identification by showing any 
two of the following: Social security card; driver's license; employee 
identification card; Medicare card; birth certificate; bank credit 
card; or other positive means of identification, or by signing an 
identity statement stipulating that knowingly or willfully seeking or 
obtaining access to records about another person under false pretenses 
is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000.
    Individuals requesting access must also comply with the FCC's 
Privacy Act regulations regarding verification of identity and access 
to records (47 CFR part 0, subpart E).

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    The FCC last gave full notice of this system of records, FCC/OMD-
13, Information Quality Comments (formerly: FCC/OMD-13, Data Quality 
Comments), by publication in the Federal Register on April 5, 2006 (71 
FR 17234, 17256).

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-22361 Filed 10-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P