[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 209 (Friday, October 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63190-63191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24253]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


Privacy Act of 1974: System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary.

ACTION: Notice to establish a system of records.

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SUMMARY: DOT proposes to establish a new system of records under the 
Privacy Act of 1974.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 8, 2004. If no comments are received, the 
proposal will become effective on the above date. If comments are 
received, the comments will be considered and, where adopted, the 
documents will be republished with changes.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Yvonne L. 
Coates, Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary, 400 7th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-6964 (telephone), (202) 
366-7024 (fax) [email protected] (Internet address).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theresa Rowlett, (202) 385-2323, 
Chief, Business Information and Operations Division, Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Transportation system of 
records notices subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as 
amended, have been published in the Federal Register and are available 
from the above mentioned address.

System number:
    DOT/FMCSA 04.

System name:
    Safety Violation and Consumer Complaint Safety Hotline Database.

Security classification:
    Unclassified, sensitive.

[[Page 63191]]

System location:
    The system is located at the Computing Technology, Inc. (CoTs), 
3028 Javier Road, Suite 400, Fairfax, Virginia. The office is under the 
direction and supervision of the Office of Communications (MC-CM), 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Categories of individuals covered by the system of records:
    Individuals who have filed Safety and/or Commercial complaints. 
Complaints filed are the results of alleged violations of safety and/or 
commercial regulations. The majority of commercial complaints filed are 
against household goods (HHG) movers.

Categories of records in the system:
    Records and reports in this system may include:
    1. HHG commercial complaints
    2. Acknowledgement letter to complainant
    3. Notification letter to carrier
    4. Commercial HHG press release setup
    5. HHG carrier complaint history
    6. HHG complaints searches (DOT, MC, State, 
Tracking, Complainant, Respondent, Date)
    7. Safety violations reports
    8. Safety violations and commercial report generator

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    49 U.S.C. 314104, 49 U.S.C. 14702.

Purposes:
    The system has multiple purposes. First, the data collected will 
provide FMCSA with statistical information regarding commercial motor 
carriers, in particular the household goods moving industry. Using this 
information, FMCSA will target motor carriers with high levels of 
complaints for enforcement actions. The information will be used to 
promote compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety and Commercial 
Regulations. In addition, this statistical information will be used to 
develop guidance and direction for the general public--identifying the 
most common problems and the means to avoid them. This information will 
also be used to develop and maintain a list of problem movers. This 
information will be made public so that consumers can avoid using these 
problem companies.
    Lastly, this information will be used, at the complainant's 
discretion, to assist in reconciling complaints. The mover will be 
informed of the complaint and will be encouraged to resolve the issue 
with the complainant.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    See Prefatory Notice of General Routine Uses.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    Not applicable.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    The data within the Safety Violation and Consumer Household Goods 
Complaint Hotline database is stored within a Microsoft Access 2000 
database. Direct access to the database from the Internet is protected 
and blocked via our multi-layering architecture. Access to the data is 
protected by using username and password authentication of only FMCSA 
approved users. Usernames and passwords follow the DOT standards for 
creation and refreshing periods of 90 days. The communication during 
user authentication and throughout the authorized user's access to the 
website and database is encrypted using 128-Bit Secure Socket Layer 
(SSL).
    Files are stored at Computing Technology, Inc. (CoTs), 3028 Javier 
Road, Suite 400, Fairfax, Virginia. Back up copies of this information 
are stored at FMCSA's offices at 400 Virginia Avenue, SW., Suite 340, 
Washington, DC.

Retrievability:
    Records are maintained and retrieved by the following: complainant 
name, respondent name, secondary respondent name, motor carrier number, 
DOT number, tracking number, date, and state.

Safeguards:
    To safeguard against the risk of unauthorized disclosure, CoTs 
maintains the information at secured facilities in limited access 
areas. The data on the systems are software-protected by passwords. 
There are also nightly backups to protect the database. CoTs limits 
access to the system to designated authorized personnel.

Retention and disposal:
    The complaint files are retained at CoTs by the system 
administrator. All files received by the Safety Violations and 
Commercial Consumer Hotline are retained in compliance with agency 
records control schedules. Complaints received by mail from FMCSA are 
recorded to the online database and returned to FMCSA. CoTs complies 
with all requirements of the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) relative to records retention and control. NARA 
regulations indicate that electronic files created to monitor system 
usage are authorized for erasure or deletion when the agency determines 
that they are no longer needed for administrative, legal, audit, or 
other operational purposes.

Manager(s) and address:
    Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Office of 
Communications, 400 7th Street, SW., (MC-CM), Washington, DC 20590

Notification procedure:
    Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Business Information 
and Operations Division, 400 7th Street, SW., MC-MBI, Washington, DC 
20590

Record access procedures:
    Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Office of 
Communications, 400 7th Street, SW., (MC-CM), Washington, DC 20590.

Contesting record procedures:
    Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Business Information 
and Operations Division, 400 7th Street, SW., MC-MBI, Washington, DC 
20590.

Record source categories:
    Consumers, motor carriers and brokers.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.

    Dated: October 25, 2004.
Yvonne L. Coates,
Privacy Act Coordinator.
[FR Doc. 04-24253 Filed 10-28-04; 8:45 am]
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