[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 226 (Monday, November 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65996-65998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29240]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service


Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended; System of Records

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed new privacy act system of records.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 
1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Department of the Treasury, 
Internal Revenue Service, gives notice of a proposed new system of 
records entitled ``Treasury/IRS 00.008--Recorded Quality Review 
Records.''

DATES: Comments must be received no later than December 24, 2003. This 
new system of records will be effective January 5, 2004 unless the IRS 
receives comments that would result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Office of Governmental 
Liaison and Disclosure, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224. Comments will be made available for 
inspection and copying upon request in the Freedom of Information 
Reading Room (1621), at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita Loftin, Senior Policy Analyst, 
W:CAS 401 West Peachtree Street, NW., Atlanta, Georgia 30308, 404-338-
8914 (not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Our current quality monitoring process does 
not provide the same opportunity as the proposed system for all calls 
to be included in the sample selected for quality monitoring. A 
February 15, 2002 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 
(TIGTA) review recommended that the IRS institute an automated call 
recording system that would provide a true random method of selecting 
calls from the entire population of taxpayer assistance calls. In a 
follow-up review dated January 16, 2003, TIGTA stated that the planned 
implementation of call recording will provide the IRS with an important 
opportunity for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of its 
quality assurance process and, in turn, would improve the quality of 
the customer's experience when calling the IRS for assistance. 
Taxpayers will be notified at the beginning of a call that their call 
may be monitored or recorded for quality improvement purposes.
    The proposed automated call recording system will allow the IRS to 
improve quality of responses to taxpayers by providing an efficient and 
effective means of assessing employee performance. Managers may play 
the recording when discussing the evaluation of the call with the 
employee. Audio recordings and screen capture images will be kept long 
enough for the review and discussion process to take place, generally 
not more than 45 days.
    By recording taxpayer calls and tracking employee actions, the IRS 
will be able to improve its service to the public by providing 
specific, tangible feedback to employees. The system will automatically 
keep track of evaluative data and will alert the manager to areas in 
which the employee needs improvement. As a result, targeted training 
will be provided to the employee either on-line or in one-on-one 
coaching sessions. The IRS is currently negotiating the proposed 
program with representatives of the National Treasury Employees Union.

[[Page 65997]]

    The new system of records report, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) 
of the Privacy Act, has been submitted to the Committee on Government 
Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Office of Management and 
Budget, pursuant to Appendix I to OMB Circular A-130, ``Federal Agency 
Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals,'' dated 
November 30, 2000.
    The proposed new system of records entitled ``Treasury/IRS 00.008--
Recorded Quality Review Records'' is published in its entirety below.

Teresa Mullett Ressel,
Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer.
Treasury/IRS 00.008

System name:
    Recorded Quality Review Records--Treasury/IRS.

System location:
    Andover Call Site--W&I, 310 Lowell Street, Andover, MA 01812.
    Andover Remote Call Site, 900 Chelmford St., Tower III, Lowell, MA 
01851.
    Andover Methuen EITC, 96 Milk Street, Methuen, MA 01844.
    Atlanta Call Site--W&I, 2385 Chamblee-Tucker Road, Chamblee, 
Georgia 30341.
    Dunwoody AUR Call Site--W&I, 6655 Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, 
Dunwoody, Georgia 30328.
    Austin Call Site--W&I, 1821 Director's Boulevard, Austin, TX 78744.
    Baltimore Call Site--W&I, 100 S. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 
21201.
    Boston Call Site, 25 New Sudbury Street, 10th Floor, JFK Federal 
Bldg., Boston, MA 02203.
    Brookhaven Call Site--SB/SE, 1040 Waverly Avenue, Holtsville, NY 
11742.
    Buffalo Call Site--SB/SE, Union & Bennet Road, Cheektowaga, NY 
14227.
    Cincinnati Call Sitez--SB/SE, 333 Scott Street, Covington, KY 
41019.
    Cincinnati TE/GE Call Site, Peck Federal Bldg., 550 Main St., Room 
2405, Cincinnati, OH 45201.
    Cleveland Call Site--W&I, 1240 East 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 
44109.
    Dallas Call Site--W&I, 114 Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75242.
    Houston Call Site, 8701 South Gessner, Houston, TX 77074.
    Denver Call Site--W&I, 600 17th Street, Denver, CO 80202.
    Detroit Call Site, McNamara Federal Bldg., 477 Michigan Avenue, 
Detroit, MI 48226.
    Fresno Call Site--W&I, 5045 E. Butler Avenue, Fresno, CA 93888.
    Indianapolis Call Site--SB/SE 3849 Richardt Street, Indianapolis, 
IN 46226.
    Jacksonville Call Site--W&I, 4057 Carmichael Drive, Jacksonville, 
FL 32207.
    Jacksonville Call Site--W&I, One Independent Drive, 3rd Floor, 
Jacksonville, FL 32202.
    Kansas City Call Site--W&I, 7720 W. 119th Street, Overland Park, KS 
66213.
    Memphis Call Site--SB/SE, 5333 Getwell Road, Memphis, TN 38118.
    Memphis Call Site, 5410 S. Mendenhall, Ste. 10, Memphis, TN 38141.
    Nashville Call Site--SB/SE, 5080 Nolensville Road, Nashville, TN 
32701.
    Oakland Call Site--SB/SE, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612.
    Ogden Call Site--SB/SE, 2262 Wall Street, Ogden, UT 84401.
    Ogden Compliance A Call Site, 1160 W. 1200 South St., Ogden, UT 
84201.
    Ogden Compliance E Call Site, 119 N. Jorgensen Ave., Ogden, UT 
84404.
    Philadelphia Call Site--SB/SE, 11601 Roosevelt Blvd., Philadelphia, 
PA 19154.
    Philadelphia Compliance Call Site, 11601 Roosevelt Blvd., 
Philadelphia, PA 19154.
    Pittsburgh Call Site--W&I, 100 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 
15222.
    Portland Call Site--W&I, 1220 SE. 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97204.
    Richmond Call Site--W&I, 400 N. 8th Street, Richmond, VA 23240.
    San Juan Call Site-W&I, 7 Tabonuco Street, San Juan, PR 00968.
    Seattle Call Site-W&I, 915 2nd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98174.
    St. Louis Call Site--W&I, 1222 Spruce Street, St. Louis, MO 63101.
    Chicago Call Site, 230 S. Dearborn St., 22nd Fl., Chicago, IL 
60604.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    IRS employees who respond to taxpayer assistance calls.

Categories of records in the system:
    Records required to administer IRS quality review and employee 
performance feedback programs.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    26 U.S.C. 7801.

Purpose(s):
    Records in this system are used to administer IRS quality review 
programs. Although information will include questions and other 
statements from taxpayers or their representatives on recordings, the 
primary focus of the system is to improve service and retrieve 
information by the employee and not create records focusing on the 
taxpayer.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    Disclosure of returns and return information may be made only as 
provided by 26 U.S.C. 6103.
    Records other than returns and return information may be used to:
    (1) Disclose information in a proceeding before a court, 
adjudicative body, or other administrative body before which the agency 
is authorized to appear when (a) the agency, or (b) any employee of the 
agency in his or her official capacity, or (c) any employee of the 
agency in his or her individual capacity where the Department of 
Justice or the agency has agreed to represent the employee; or (d) the 
United States, when the agency determines that litigation is likely to 
affect the agency, is a party to litigation or has an interest in such 
litigation, and the use of such records by the agency is deemed to be 
relevant and necessary to the litigation or administrative proceeding 
and not otherwise privileged.
    (2) Provide information to a congressional office in response to an 
inquiry made at the request of the employee to whom the record 
pertains.
    (3) Disclose information to a contractor when necessary to perform 
a government contract.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Electronic media and paper.

Retrievability:
    Recorded contacts will be retrieved by unique identifier for the 
IRS employee handling the telephone call. Recorded calls or screens 
will not be retrieved by taxpayer name or taxpayer identifying number.

Safeguards:
    Safeguard access controls will not be less than those provided for 
by IRM 25.10.1, Information Technology Security Policy and Guidance, 
and IRM 1.16, Manager's Security Handbook.

Retention and disposal:
    Record retention will be established in accordance with the 
National Archives and Records Administration Regulations part 1228, 
subpart B-Scheduling Records. Audio recordings and screen capture 
images will be kept long enough for the review and discussion process 
to take place, generally not more than 45 days.

[[Page 65998]]

System manager(s) and address:
    Official prescribing policies and practices: Commissioner, Wage and 
Investment. Official maintaining the system: Head of the call site 
maintaining the file. See ``system location'' above for a list of the 
call sites and addresses.

Notification procedure:
    Individuals may inquire in accordance with instructions appearing 
at 31 CFR part 1, subpart C, Appendix B. Inquiries should be addressed 
to the systesm manager address listed above.

Record access procedures:
    Individuals seeking access to any record contained in this system 
of records or seeking to contest its contents, may inquire in 
accordance with instructions appearing at 31 CFR part 1, subpart C, 
Appendix B. Inquiries should be addressed to the system manager address 
listed below.

Contesting record procedures:
    26 U.S.C. 7852(e) prohibits Privacy Act amendment of tax records. 
See ``Record Access Procedures'' above for seeking amendment for 
records that are not tax records.

Record source categories:
    Records in this system are provided by IRS employees when they 
provide information by identifying themselves for the purpose of 
assisting a taxpayer.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.
[FR Doc. 03-29240 Filed 11-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P