[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-10543]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 3, 1994]
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POSTAL SERVICE
39 CFR Part 265
Release of Information
AGENCY: Postal Service.
ACTION: Interim rule.
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SUMMARY: This interim rule amends the Postal Service regulation which
prohibits the disclosure to the public of information contained in
Postal Service Form 1583, ``Application for Delivery of Mail Through
Agent.'' The amendment will authorize the disclosure of information
from Form 1583 for the purpose of identifying addresses as Commercial
Mail Receiving Agencies. The intended affect of this amendment is to
provide an effective tool in combating credit card fraud and other
types of consumer fraud.
DATES: This interim rule will become effective June 2, 1994. Comments
are invited and must be received on or before June 17, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Records Office, United States
Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., room 8831, Washington, DC
20260-5240, or delivered to the above address between 8:15 a.m. and
4:45 p.m., Monday through Friday. Comments received may be inspected
during the above hours in room 8831.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betty Sheriff, Records Office, (202)
268-2924.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRAs)
are private entities which receive mail on behalf of other persons.
Both CMRAs and their customers are required to sign Postal Service Form
1583, ``Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent,'' a copy of
which is filed with the postmaster responsible for the delivery
address. Under 39 CFR 265.6(d)(10), the disclosure to the public of any
information contained in Form 1583 has been prohibited.
The Postal Service, primarily through its law enforcement branch,
the Postal Inspection Service, has been working with the credit card
industry to prevent credit card fraud. One form of credit card fraud
consists of submitting an application for a credit card under a
fictitious name. Perpetrators of this type of fraud may use an address
provided by a CMRA, which often appears to be a typical residential or
business address, as a means of avoiding detection. Credit card
companies have asked the Postal Service to help them detect such fraud
by identifying CMRA addresses, and the Postal Service has concluded
that the identification of CMRA addresses would be an effective tool in
combating credit card fraud and other types of consumer fraud.
As amended by the interim rule, 39 CFR 265.6(d)(8) will authorize
disclosure of information only for the purpose of identifying an
address as belonging to a CMRA, and no other information concerning
CMRAs or their customers will be disclosed pursuant to the regulation.
Because the regulation will not authorize the disclosure of the
identities of CMRA customers, disclosures under the regulation will not
invade the legitimate privacy interests of persons who receive mail
through CMRAs. The information will be disclosed primarily by means of
annotations to the Postal Service's Delivery Sequence File (DSF). DSF
data, the use of which is made available to the public through
authorized licensees, contains delivery-point addresses, and it does
not include the identities of individuals.
Copies of Form 1583 on file with the Postal Service are records
protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and they are
maintained in the Postal Service's Privacy Act system of records USPS
010.050, Collection and Delivery Records--Delivery of Mail Through
Agents. In a separate notice published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register, the Postal Service is adding a routine use to system
of records USPS 010.050 which will authorize the disclosure of the
information that may be released pursuant to the interim rule.
Although the Postal Service is exempted by 39 U.S.C. 410(a) from
the advance notice requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act
regarding rulemaking (5 U.S.C. 553), the Postal Service invites
interested persons to submit written comments concerning the interim
rule. These comments will be considered before a final rule is adopted.
List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 265
Disclosure of information, Postal Service.
For the reasons set forth in this document, the Postal Service is
amending 39 CFR Part 265 as follows:
PART 265--DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 265 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 39 U.S.C. 401; 5 U.S.C. 552; Inspector General Act of
1978, as amended (Pub. L. 95-452, as amended), 5 U.S.C. App. 3.
2. Paragraph (d)(8) of Sec. 265.6 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 265.6 Availability of Records.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(8) Form 1583, Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent.
Except as provided by this paragraph, information contained in Form
1583 may not be disclosed to the public. Information contained in Form
1583 may be disclosed to the public only for the purpose of identifying
a particular address as an address of an agent to whom mail is
delivered on behalf of other persons. The identities of persons on
whose behalf agents receive mail may not be disclosed.
* * * * *
Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
[FR Doc. 94-10543 Filed 5-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-M