Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security United States Citizenship and Immigration Services-005 Intercountry Adoptions Security System of Records

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to update and reissue a current DHS system of records titled, ``DHS/United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)-005 Intercountry Adoptions Security'' system of records. DHS/USCIS collects, uses, and maintains Intercountry Adoptions Security records on prospective adoptive parents and other individuals associated with an intercountry adoption-related application or petition. DHS/USCIS is updating this system of records to: Clarify the information technology used to process intercountry adoption-based applications and petitions; update the categories of individuals in the system; clarify the categories of records in the system; update the legal authorities for the intercountry adoption immigration process from countries that are party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) and from non-Hague Adoption Convention (orphan) countries; reflect an increased retention period for intercountry adoption records; include all sources of records for adoption-based forms used in the Hague Adoption Convention process and non-Hague (orphan) process; and add Routine Use R, which permits the disclosure of information to the Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, this notice includes non-substantive changes to simplify the formatting and text of the previously published notice. This updated system will be included in the Department of Homeland Security's inventory of record systems.