[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 51 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12738-12741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6330]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

ACTION: Notice of New System of Records--Call Detail Records--VA 
(90VA194).

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SUMMARY: The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e), requires that all 
agencies publish in the Federal Register a notice of the existence and 
character of their systems of records. Notice is hereby given that the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is establishing a new system of 
records entitled ``Call Detail Records--VA'' (90VA194).

DATES: Comments on the establishment of this new system of records must 
be received no later than April 16, 2003. If no public comment is 
received, the new system will become effective April 16, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand-deliver written comments concerning the 
proposed new system of records to the Office of Regulations Management 
(02D), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20420; or fax comments to (202) 273-9289; or email 
comments to ``[email protected]''. All relevant material 
received before April 16, 2003 will be considered. Comments will be 
available for public inspection at the above address in the Office of 
Regulations Management, Room 1158, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) 
Privacy Act Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont 
Avenue,

[[Page 12739]]

NW., Washington, DC 20420, telephone (727) 320-1839.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Description of Proposed Systems of Records

    Some Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities use call 
detail records to verify telephone usage, to allocate costs of 
telephone services to individual users, to identify unofficial 
telephone calls, to seek reimbursement for unofficial calls, and as a 
basis for taking action when employees or other individuals misuse or 
abuse VHA telephone systems. The establishment of the VHA telephone 
Call Detail Records as a new system of records is required because of 
the ability to retrieve information about individuals from the system 
through the use of a personal identifier such as the name of the 
individual, office symbol, or some other identifying information.
    The purpose of the system of records is to establish a repository 
for the information that is collected to accomplish the purposes 
described.
    Designated individuals at each facility maintain records. These 
records cover individuals who are assigned VHA telephone numbers or are 
authorized to use VHA telephone services, as well as other agencies and 
individuals who receive or make calls billed to VHA. Records are 
maintained on electronic media (hard disk and floppy disks) and paper 
and are stored in secure areas available only to facility staff that 
issue authorization codes, maintain the user database and produce 
monthly activity reports. Individuals including VA employees, 
contractors, and non-VA employees authorized to use VHA telephone 
services, who inappropriately make unofficial calls billed to VHA, can 
be responsible for the cost of those calls. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b)(12), VA may disclose records from this system to consumer 
reporting agencies as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681a(f)) or the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 (31 
U.S.C. 3701(a)(3)) to recover this cost.

II. Proposed Routine Use Disclosures of Data in the System

    We are proposing to establish the following routine use disclosures 
of information which will be maintained in the system:
    1. Disclosure may be made to individuals to determine their 
responsibility for telephone calls.
    Records from this system of records may be disclosed to appropriate 
VA employees to assist in the planning and effective management of VA 
telephone services, and to determine that VA telephones are being used 
in an efficient and economical manner.
    2. Disclosure may be made to another Federal agency or a 
telecommunications company providing telephone services to permit 
maintenance and repair of the account.
    Records may be disclosed to a telecommunications company as 
requested by VA for such uses as repairing or upgrading the system.
    3. Information from this system of records may be disclosed to a 
congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an 
inquiry from the congressional office made on behalf of that 
individual.
    Individuals sometimes request the help of a member of Congress in 
resolving some issues relating to a matter before VA. The member of 
Congress then writes VA, and VA must be able to give sufficient 
information in response to the inquiry.
    4. Disclosure may be made to the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) for records management inspections under 
authority of Title 44 United States Code.
    NARA is responsible for archiving old records no longer actively 
used, but which may be appropriate for preservation; they are 
responsible in general for the physical maintenance of the Federal 
government's records. VA must be able to turn records over to these 
agencies in order to determine the proper disposition of such records.
    5. Disclosure may be at VA's initiative made to the appropriate 
Federal, State, or local agency responsible for investigating, 
prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing a statute, rule, regulation, or 
order, where the agency becomes aware of an indication of a violation 
or potential violation of civil or criminal law or regulation.
    6. A record from this system of records may be disclosed to a 
Federal agency, in response to its request, in connection with the 
hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security 
clearance, the conducting of a security or suitability investigation of 
an individual, the reporting of an investigation, the letting of a 
grant or other benefit, to the extent that the information is relevant 
and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the matter.
    VA must be able to provide information to agencies conducting 
background checks on applicants for employment.
    7. Records from this system of records may be disclosed in a 
proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative 
body when the Agency, or any Agency component or employee (in his or 
her official capacity as a VA employee), is a party to litigation; when 
the Agency determines that litigation is likely to affect the Agency, 
any of its components or employees, or the United States has an 
interest in the litigation, and such records are deemed to be relevant 
and necessary to the legal proceedings; provided that the disclosure is 
compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
    Whenever VA or another party is involved in litigation and VA 
policies or operations could be affected by the outcome of the 
litigation, VA would be able to disclose information to the court or 
parties involved. A determination would be made in each instance that, 
under the circumstances involved, the purpose served by the use of the 
information in the particular litigation is compatible with a purpose 
for which VA collects the information.
    8. Disclosure of relevant information may be made to individuals, 
organizations, private or public agencies, etc., with whom VA has a 
contract or agreement to perform such services as VA may deem 
practicable for the purposes of laws administered by VA, in order for 
the contractor or subcontractor to perform the services of the contract 
or agreement.
    VA occasionally contracts out certain functions when this would 
contribute to effective and efficient operations. VA must be able to 
give a contractor whatever information is necessary for the contractor 
to fulfill its duties. In these situations, safeguards are provided in 
the contract prohibiting the contractor from using or disclosing the 
information for any purpose other than that described in the contract.
    9. Disclosure may be made to officials of labor organizations 
recognized under 5 U.S.C. chapter 71 when relevant and necessary to 
their duties of exclusive representation concerning personnel policies, 
practices, and matters affecting working conditions.
    10. Disclosure may be made to officials of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board, including the Office of the Special Counsel, when 
requested in connection with appeals, special studies of the civil 
service and other merit systems, review of rules and regulations, 
investigation of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, 
and such other functions, promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as 
may be authorized by law.
    11. Disclosure may be made to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission when requested in connection with investigations of alleged 
or possible discrimination

[[Page 12740]]

practices, examination of Federal affirmative employment programs, 
compliance with the Uniform Guidelines of Employee Selection 
Procedures, or other functions vested in the Commission by the 
President's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978.
    12. Disclosure may be made to the Federal Labor Relations 
Authority, including its General Counsel, when requested in connection 
with investigation and resolution of allegations of unfair labor 
practices, in connection with the resolution of exceptions to 
arbitrator awards when a question of material fact is raised and 
matters before the Federal Service Impasses Panel.
    Routine uses 9--12 are necessary in order for the VA to comply with 
the statutory mandates.
    13. Disclosure may be made to the VA-appointed representative of an 
employee, including all notices, determinations, decisions, or other 
written communications issued to the employee in connection with an 
examination ordered by VA under medical evaluation (formerly fitness-
for-duty) examination procedures or Department-filed disability 
retirement procedures.

III. Compatibility of the Proposed Routine Uses

    The Privacy Act permits VA to disclose information about 
individuals without their consent for a routine use when the 
information will be used for a purpose that is compatible with the 
purpose for which VA collected the information. In all of the routine 
use disclosures described above, either the recipient of the 
information will use the information in connection with a matter 
relating to one of VA's programs, will use the information to provide a 
benefit to VA, or disclose the information as required by law.
    The notice of intent to publish and an advance copy of the system 
notice have been sent to the appropriate Congressional committees and 
to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as 
required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) (Privacy Act) and guidelines issued by OMB 
(65 FR 77677), December 12, 2000.

    Approved: March 3, 2003.
Anthony J. Principi,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
90VA194

SYSTEM NAME:
    Call Detail Records-VA.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Records are maintained at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) 
facilities. Address locations for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 
facilities are listed in VA Appendix 1 of the biennial publication of 
the VA's systems of records.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Individuals who are assigned VHA telephone numbers or are 
authorized to use VHA telephone services, and individuals who receive 
or make calls billed to VHA.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Call detail records consist of information on Federal 
Telecommunication System (FTS) telephone calls placed from VHA 
telephones or otherwise billed to VHA including the originating and 
destination telephone numbers; states and cities called; date and time 
of call; duration of each call; cost of call; name and title of caller; 
request number; account code; deactivation code; authorization code 
records indicating the assignment of telephone numbers to organizations 
and individuals; and the organizational location of telephones.

PURPOSE(S):
    The records are used to generate call detail records; to verify 
telephone usage; to allocate costs of telephone services to individual 
users; to identify unofficial telephone calls; and to justify action 
when individuals misuse or abuse VA telephone services.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Title 38 United States Code, section 501.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    1. Disclosure may be made to individuals to determine their 
responsibility for telephone calls.
    2. Disclosure may be made to another Federal agency or a 
telecommunications company providing telephone services to permit 
maintenance and repair of the account.
    3. Information from this system of records may be disclosed to a 
congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an 
inquiry from the congressional office made on behalf of that 
individual.
    4. Disclosure may be made to the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) for records management inspections under Title 44 
of United States Code.
    5. Disclosure may be made at VA's initiative to the appropriate 
Federal, State, or local agency responsible for investigating, 
prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing a statute, rule, regulation, or 
order, where the agency becomes aware of an indication of a violation 
or potential violation of civil or criminal law or regulation.
    6. A record from this system of records may be disclosed to a 
Federal agency, in response to its request, in connection with the 
hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security 
clearance, the conducting of a security or suitability investigation of 
an individual, the reporting of an investigation, the letting of a 
grant or other benefit, to the extent that the information is relevant 
and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the matter.
    7. Records from this system of records may be disclosed in a 
proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative 
body when the Agency, or any Agency component or employee (in his or 
her official capacity as a VA employee), is a party to litigation; when 
the Agency determines that litigation is likely to affect the Agency, 
any of its components or employees, or the United States has an 
interest in the litigation, and such records are deemed to be relevant 
and necessary to the legal proceedings; provided that the disclosure is 
compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
    8. Disclosure of relevant information may be made to individuals, 
organizations, private or public agencies, etc., with whom VA has a 
contract or agreement to perform such services as VA may deem 
practicable for the purposes of laws administered by VA, in order for 
the contractor or subcontractor to perform the services of the contract 
or agreement.
    9. Disclosure may be made to officials of labor organizations 
recognized under 5 U.S.C. chapter 71 when relevant and necessary to 
their duties of exclusive representation concerning personnel policies, 
practices, and matters affecting working conditions.
    10. Disclosure may be made to the VA-appointed representative of an 
employee, including all notices, determinations, decisions, or other 
written communications issued to the employee in connection with an 
examination ordered by VA under medical evaluation (formerly fitness-
for-duty) examination procedures or Department-filed disability 
retirement procedures.
    11. Disclosure may be made to officials of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board, including the Office of the Special Counsel, when 
requested in

[[Page 12741]]

connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and other 
merit systems, review of rules and regulations, investigation of 
alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and such other 
functions, promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as may be 
authorized by law.
    12. Disclosure may be made to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission when requested in connection with investigations of alleged 
or possible discrimination practices, examination of Federal 
affirmative employment programs, compliance with the Uniform Guidelines 
of Employee Selection Procedures, or other functions vested in the 
Commission by the President's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978.
    13. Disclosure may be made to the Federal Labor Relations 
Authority, including its General Counsel, when requested in connection 
with investigation and resolution of allegations of unfair labor 
practices, in connection with the resolution of exceptions to 
arbitrator awards when a question of material fact is raised and 
matters before the Federal Service Impasses Panel.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12), VA may disclose records from this 
system to consumer reporting agencies as defined in the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)) or the Federal Claims Collection Act 
of 1966 (31 U.S.C. 3701(a)(3)).

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Records are maintained on electronic media (hard disk and floppy 
disks) and paper.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records may be retrieved by name, authorization code, VA 
organizational unit, originating telephone number, destination 
telephone number, location code, date, time, cost, and/or duration of 
call.

SAFEGUARDS:
    1. Access to telecommunication areas at health care facilities is 
generally limited by appropriate locking devices and restricted to 
authorized VA employees and vendor personnel. Generally, VA 
telecommunication areas are locked at all times and the facilities are 
protected from outside access by the Federal Protective Service or 
other security personnel.
    2. Access to file information or the user database is controlled by 
access codes. The system recognizes authorized VA employees by 
individually unique passwords or access codes. Contractors accessing 
the database remotely use encryption and access codes.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with record 
disposition authority approved by the Archivist of the United States. 
Destruction of hard copy (paper) records is by shredding or burning or 
some other method that will macerate the record content. Working disks 
are erased as soon as the purpose for which they have been established 
has been served.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    Director, Implementation and Training Services, Communications 
Services Office (194D), Office of Information, State Route 9, Building 
307A, Martinsburg, West Virginia 25401.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Individuals wishing to inquire whether this system of records 
contains information about themselves should contact the designated 
individual at the VHA facility where the records are maintained. 
Individuals must furnish the following information for their records to 
be located and identified: a. Full name; b. VA assigned telephone 
number or telephone service authorization number; and c. description of 
information being sought, including the time frame of information being 
sought.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:
    Individuals wishing to request access to records about themselves 
should contact the designated individual at the VHA facility where the 
records are maintained. Individuals must furnish the following 
information for their records to be located and identified: a. Full 
name; b. VA assigned telephone number or telephone authorization 
number, and; c. Description of information being sought, including the 
time frame of information being sought. Individuals requesting access 
must also follow VA's Privacy Act regulations regarding verification of 
identify and access to records (38 CFR Part 1).

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURE:
    Individuals wishing to request amendment of records about 
themselves should contact the designated individual at the VHA facility 
where the records are maintained. Individuals must furnish the 
following information for their records to be located and identified: 
a. Full name; b. VA assigned telephone number or telephone service 
authorization number; and c. Description of information being sought, 
including the time frame of the information being sought. Individuals 
requesting amendment must also follow VA's Privacy Act regulations 
regarding verification identify and amendment of records (38 CFR part 
1).

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The information in this system of records is obtained from the 
following sources: a. Local VA telephone directories and other 
telephone assignment records; b. call detail records provided by 
suppliers of telephone services; and c. the individual on whom the 
record is maintained.

[FR Doc. 03-6330 Filed 3-14-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P