[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 144 (Thursday, July 28, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43715-43718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14849]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Bureau of Investigation

[AAG/A Order No. 005-2005]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Federal Bureau of Investigation, DOJ.

ACTION: Notice to establish system of records.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) proposes to add a 
system of records to its inventory of record systems subject to the 
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended. The FBI is 
establishing a new system of records to cover records maintained by the 
Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). These records were previously covered 
by the FBI Central Records System (Justice/FBI-002), last published in 
full text on February 20, 1998 (63 FR 8671) and amended in part on 
March 29, 2001 (66 FR 17200). Public comments are invited.

DATES: This action will be effective on September 6, 2005, unless 
comments are received that would result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments to Mary E. Cahill, Management Analyst, 
Management and Planning Staff, Justice Management Division, Department 
of Justice, Washington, DC 20530 (Room 1400, National Place Building).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary E. Cahill, (202) 307-1823.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 16, 2003, President George W. 
Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6), which 
directed the establishment of an organization that would consolidate 
the government's approach to terrorism screening and provide for the 
appropriate and lawful use of terrorist information in screening 
processes. As a result, the Director of Central Intelligence, 
Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, and the Attorney General 
signed a memorandum of understanding creating the TSC and placing it 
within the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The Secretaries of 
the Treasury and Defense signed an addendum to the memorandum to join 
the partnership supporting the TSC. The TSC became operational on 
December 1, 2003 and is charged with consolidating and maintaining the 
U.S. government's terrorist watch list. In fulfilling its mission, the 
TSC collects and maintains records about individuals, described below, 
that are subject to the requirements of the Privacy Act. These records 
were previously covered by the FBI Central Records System (Justice/FBI-
002) and upon the effective date of this notice they will be part of 
the Terrorist Screening Records System (TSRS), Justice/FBI-019.
    Prior to HSPD-6, information about known or suspected terrorists 
was dispersed throughout the U.S. Government and no one agency was 
charged with consolidating it and making it available for use in 
terrorist screening. In March 2004, the TSC consolidated the 
government's terrorist watchlist information into a sensitive-but-
unclassified database, known as the Terrorist Screening Database 
(TSDB), containing only identifying information about known or 
suspected terrorists. As required by HSPD-6, the TSDB contains 
``information about individuals known or appropriately suspected to be 
or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in 
aid of, or related to terrorism.'' Information from the TSDB is now 
used to screen for terrorists in a variety of contexts, including 
during law enforcement encounters, the adjudication of applications for 
U.S. visas or other immigration and citizenship benefits, at U.S. land 
borders and ports of entry, and for civil aviation security purposes. 
The TSDB is included in the new TSRS.
    Other records in the TSRS include those that document the 
operational support TSC provides to agencies that screen for terrorists 
(``screening agencies'') and its internal quality assurance process to 
ensure the terrorist data is thorough, accurate and current. On a 24-
hour basis, the TSC assists state, local and federal agencies in 
determining if an individual they have encountered is a positive 
identity match to a known or suspected terrorist. TSC also facilitates 
an appropriate and coordinated law enforcement response or other 
appropriate response (e.g., medical and containment response to a 
biological hazard) to positive terrorist encounters. TSC uses 
information from other government databases, some of which are 
classified, to facilitate the identity match process and incorporates 
that information into TSC records as appropriate.
    The TSC also maintains records related to the resolution of 
terrorist watchlist-related complaints or inquiries. The TSC plans to 
include a misidentified persons list, which is intended to help clear 
individuals who have been repeatedly misidentified as matches to the 
TSDB during screening. Misidentified persons are not in the TSDB, but 
simply bear a close enough similarity in their name or other identifier 
to someone who is in the TSDB, such that the screening process cannot 
readily differentiate them. The remedy for misidentified persons is 
therefore not removal from the TSDB, because they are not in fact in 
it, but a mechanism to permit the screening agency to readily identify 
them as persons who have been repeatedly confused with a known or 
suspected terrorist in the past. When operational, this list would be 
used by the TSC and each screening agency that uses the TSC, to help 
distinguish misidentified persons during the screening process. This 
would consolidate and improve the current redress processes for 
misidentified persons, which vary from agency to agency and usually 
only provide relief with respect to one agency's screening programs, 
but not those run by other agencies. The ultimate goal of a 
consolidated misidentified persons list would be to drastically reduce, 
and ultimately eliminate altogether, the delay and inconvenience that 
misidentified persons have experienced as a result of terrorist 
screening.
    Because TSRS contains information about known or suspected 
terrorists that is derived from law enforcement and

[[Page 43716]]

intelligence sources, the Attorney General is proposing to exempt this 
system from certain portions of the Privacy Act, as permitted by law, 
to protect classified and sensitive information contained in this 
system and to prevent the compromise of ongoing counterterrorism 
investigations, sources and methods. As required by the Privacy Act, a 
proposed rule is being published concurrently with this notice to seek 
public comment on the proposal to exempt this system.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), the Department of Justice has 
provided a report of this new system of records to the Office of 
Management and Budget and to Congress.

    Dated: July 22, 2005.
Paul R. Corts,
Assistant Attorney General for Administration.
JUSTICE/FBI-019

System name:
    Terrorist Screening Records System.

Security classification:
    Classified, unclassified (law enforcement sensitive).

System location:
    Terrorist Screening Center, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
Washington, DC.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    a. Individuals known or appropriately suspected to be or have been 
engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or 
related to terrorism (``known or suspected terrorists'');
    b. Individuals identified during a terrorist screening process as a 
possible identity match to a known or suspected terrorist;
    c. Individuals who are repeatedly misidentified as a possible 
identity match to a known or suspected terrorist (``misidentified 
persons''); and
    d. Individuals about whom a terrorist watchlist-related redress 
inquiry has been made.

Categories of records in the system:
    a. Identifying information, such as name, date of birth, place of 
birth, biometrics, passport and/or drivers license information, and 
other available identifying particulars used to compare the identity of 
an individual being screened with a known or suspected terrorist;
    b. Information about encounters with individuals covered by this 
system, such as date, location, screening agency, analysis, and results 
(positive or negative identity match), and, for terrorist encounters 
only, other agencies notified and details of any law enforcement or 
other operational response;
    c. For known or suspected terrorists, in addition to the categories 
of records listed above, references to and/or information from other 
government law enforcement and intelligence databases;
    d. For misidentified persons, in addition to the categories of 
records listed above, additional identifying information that will be 
used during screening only for the purpose of distinguishing them from 
a known or suspected terrorist who has similar identifying 
characteristics (such as name, date of birth, etc.); and
    e. For redress inquiries, in addition to the categories of records 
listed above, information provided by individuals or their 
representatives, information provided by the screening agency, and 
internal work papers and other documents related to researching and 
resolving the inquiry.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6, ``Integration and Use 
of Screening Information to Protect Against Terrorism'' (Sept. 16, 
2003); E.O. 13356, ``Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism Information 
to Protect Americans'' (Aug. 27, 2004); 28 U.S.C. 533.

Purpose(s):
    a. To implement the U.S. Government's National Strategy for 
Homeland Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6, to 
identify potential terrorist threats, to uphold and enforce the law, 
and to ensure public safety.
    b. To consolidate the government's approach to terrorism screening 
and provide for the appropriate and lawful use of terrorist information 
in screening processes.
    c. To maintain current, accurate and thorough terrorist information 
in a consolidated terrorist screening database and determine which 
agencies' terrorist screening processes will use each entry in the 
database.
    d. To ensure that appropriate information possessed by state, 
local, territorial, and tribal governments, which is lawfully available 
to the Federal Government, is considered in determinations made by the 
TSC as to whether a person is a match to a known or suspected 
terrorist.
    e. To host mechanisms and make terrorist information available to 
support appropriate domestic, foreign, and private sector terrorist 
screening processes.
    f. To provide continual operational support to assist in the 
identification of persons screened and to facilitate an appropriate and 
lawful response when a known or suspected terrorist is identified in an 
agency's screening process.
    g. To provide appropriate government officials and agencies with 
information about encounters with known or suspected terrorists.
    h. To assist persons repeatedly misidentified during a terrorist 
screening process and to assist agencies in responding to individual 
complaints about the screening process (redress).

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    The TSC may disclose relevant system records in accordance with any 
current and future blanket routine uses established for FBI record 
systems. See Blanket Routine Uses (BRU) Applicable to More Than One FBI 
Privacy Act System of Records, Justice/FBI-BRU, published on June 22, 
2001 at 66 FR 33558 and amended on February 14, 2005 at 70 FR 7513. In 
addition, as routine uses specific to this system, the TSC may disclose 
relevant system records to the following persons or entities and under 
the circumstances or for the purposes described below, to the extent 
such disclosures are compatible with the purpose for which the 
information was collected. (Routine uses are not meant to be mutually 
exclusive and may overlap in some cases.)
    A. To those Federal agencies that have agreed to provide support to 
TSC for purposes of ensuring the continuity of TSC operations.
    B. To Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, foreign, 
multinational or other public agencies or entities, to entities 
regulated by any such agency or entity, and to owners/operators of 
critical infrastructure and their agents, contractors or 
representatives, for the following purposes: (1) For use in and in 
support of terrorist screening authorized by the U.S. Government, (2) 
to provide appropriate notifications of a positive terrorist encounter 
or a threat related to the encounter, (3) to facilitate any appropriate 
law enforcement or other response (e.g., medical and containment 
response to a biological hazard) to a terrorist encounter or a threat 
related to the encounter, and (4) to assist persons repeatedly 
misidentified during a screening process.
    C. To any individual, organization, or governmental entity in order 
to notify them of a serious terrorist threat for the

[[Page 43717]]

purpose of guarding against or responding to such a threat.
    D. To Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, foreign, or 
multinational agencies or entities, or other organizations that are 
engaged in, or are planning to engage in terrorist screening authorized 
by the U.S. Government, for the purpose of the development, testing, or 
modification of information technology systems used or intended to be 
used during or in support of the screening process; whenever possible, 
however, TSC will substitute de-identified data.
    E. To Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, foreign, or 
multinational agencies or entities to assist in coordination of 
terrorist threat awareness, assessment, analysis or response.
    F. To any person or entity in either the public or private sector, 
domestic or foreign, where reasonably necessary to elicit information 
or cooperation from the recipient for use by the TSC in the performance 
of an authorized function, such as obtaining information from data 
sources as to the thoroughness, accuracy, currency, or reliability of 
the data provided so that the TSC may review the quality and integrity 
of its records for quality assurance or redress purposes, and may also 
assist persons repeatedly misidentified during a screening process.
    G. To any federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, foreign or 
multinational agency, task force, or other entity or individual that 
receives information from the U.S. Government for terrorist screening 
purposes, in order to facilitate TSC's or the recipient's review, 
maintenance, and correction of TSC data for quality assurance or 
redress purposes, and to assist persons repeatedly misidentified during 
a screening process.
    H. To any agency, organization or individual for the purposes of 
performing authorized audit or oversight operations of the DOJ, FBI, 
TSC, or any agency engaged in or providing information used for 
terrorist screening that is supported by the TSC, and meeting related 
reporting requirements.
    I. To a former employee of the TSC (including those detailed or 
assigned to the TSC from another government agency) or a former 
contractor supporting the TSC for purposes of: responding to an 
official inquiry by a federal, state, or local government entity or 
professional licensing authority, in accordance with any applicable 
government regulations; or facilitating communications with a former 
employee/contractor that may be necessary for personnel-related or 
other official purposes where the TSC requires information and/or 
consultation assistance from the former employee/contractor regarding a 
matter within that person's former area of responsibility.
    J. To any criminal, civil, or regulatory law enforcement authority 
(whether federal, state, local, territorial, tribal, multinational or 
foreign) where the information is relevant to the recipient entity's 
law enforcement responsibilities.
    K. To a governmental entity lawfully engaged in collecting law 
enforcement, law enforcement intelligence, or national security 
intelligence information for law enforcement or intelligence purposes.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    None.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Records in this system are stored in paper and/or electronic 
format. Electronic storage is on servers, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and 
magnetic tapes.

Retrievability:
    Records in this system are typically retrieved by individual name, 
date of birth, passport number, and other identifying data, including 
unique identifying numbers assigned by the TSC or other government 
agencies.

Safeguards:
    All records are maintained in a secure government facility with 
access limited to only authorized personnel or authorized and escorted 
visitors. Physical security protections include guards and locked 
facilities requiring badges and passwords for access. Records are 
accessed only by authorized government personnel and contractors and 
are protected by appropriate physical and technological safeguards to 
prevent unauthorized access. All federal employees and contractors 
assigned to the TSC must hold an appropriate security clearance, sign a 
non-disclosure agreement, and undergo privacy and security training.

Retention and disposal:
    Records in this system will be retained and disposed of in 
accordance with a records schedule to be approved by the National 
Archives and Records Administration.

System manager(s) and address:
    Director, Terrorist Screening Center, Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, FBI Headquarters, 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20535-0001.

Notification procedure:
    Because this system contains classified and law enforcement 
information related to the government's counterterrorism, law 
enforcement and intelligence programs, records in this system have been 
exempted from notification, access, and amendment to the extent 
permitted by subsections (j) and (k) of the Privacy Act. Requests for 
notification should be addressed to the FBI at the address and 
according to the requirements set forth below under the heading 
``Record Access Procedures.''

Record access procedures:
    Because this system contains classified and law enforcement 
information related to the government's counterterrorism, law 
enforcement and intelligence programs, records in this system have been 
exempted from notification, access, and amendment to the extent 
permitted by subsections (j) and (k) of the Privacy Act. A request for 
access to a non-exempt record shall be made in writing with the 
envelope and the letter clearly marked ``Privacy Act Request.'' Include 
in the request your full name and complete address. The requester must 
sign the request; and, to verify it, the signature must be notarized or 
submitted under 28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to be 
made under penalty of perjury as a substitute for notarization. You may 
submit any other identifying data you wish to furnish to assist in 
making a proper search of the system. Requests for access to 
information must be addressed to the Record Information Dissemination 
Section, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20535-0001.

Contesting record procedures:
    Because this system contains classified and law enforcement 
information related to the government's counterterrorism, law 
enforcement and intelligence programs, records in this system are 
exempt from notification, access, and amendment to the extent permitted 
by subsections (j) and (k) of the Privacy Act. Requests for amendment 
should be addressed to the FBI at the address and according to the 
requirements set forth above under the heading ``Record Access 
Procedures.''
    If, however, individuals are experiencing repeated delays or 
difficulties during a government screening process and believe that 
this might be related to terrorist watch list information, they may 
contact the

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Federal agency that is conducting the screening process in question 
(``screening agency''). The screening agency is in the best position to 
determine if a particular problem relates to a terrorist watch list 
entry or is due to some other cause, such as a criminal history, an 
immigration violation or random screening. Some individuals also 
experience repeated delays during screening because their names and/or 
other identifying data, such as dates of birth, are similar to those of 
known or suspected terrorists. These individuals, referred to as 
``misidentified persons,'' often believe that they themselves are on a 
terrorist watch list, when in fact they only bear a similarity in name 
or other identifier to an individual on the list. Most screening 
agencies have or are developing procedures to expedite the clearance of 
misidentified persons during screening.
    By contacting the screening agency with a complaint, individuals 
will be able to take advantage of the procedures available to help 
misidentified persons and others experiencing screening problems. Check 
the agency's requirements for submitting complaints but, at a minimum, 
individuals should describe in as much detail as possible the problem 
they are having, including dates and locations of screening, and 
provide sufficient information to identify themselves, such as full 
name, citizenship status, and date and place of birth. The TSC assists 
the screening agency in resolving any screening complaints that may 
relate to terrorist watch list information, but does not receive or 
respond to individual complaints directly. However, if TSC receives any 
such complaints, TSC will forward them to the appropriate screening 
agency.

Record source categories:
    Information in this system is obtained from individuals covered by 
the system, public sources, agencies conducting terrorist screening, 
law enforcement and intelligence agency record systems, government 
databases, and foreign governments.

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    The Attorney General has exempted this system from subsections 
(c)(3) and (4), (d)(1), (2), (3) and (4), (e)(1), (2), (3), (5) and 
(8), and (g) of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j) and (k). 
These exemptions apply only to the extent that information in the 
system is subject to exemption pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j) and (k). 
Rules have been promulgated in accordance with the requirements of 5 
U.S.C. 553(b), (c) and (e).

[FR Doc. 05-14849 Filed 7-27-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-02-P