[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