[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 86 (Friday, May 2, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24342-24345]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9737]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 6209]


Overseas Citizens Services Records

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Department of State proposes 
to amend the Overseas Citizens Services Records pursuant to the 
provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 522a(r)), 
and Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-130, Appendix I. The 
Department's report was filed with the Office of Management and Budget 
on 17 April 2007.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    It is proposed that the existing system will retain the name 
``Overseas Citizens Services Records.'' It is also proposed that the 
altered system description will include revisions and/or additions to 
the Bureau of Consular Affairs responsibility to provide assistance to 
U.S. citizens overseas and reflect the Department's new role as 
designated Central Authority under the Convention on Protection of 
Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption Convention 
and its implementing legislation, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 
2000.
    Any persons interested in commenting on this amendment of the 
Overseas Citizens Services Records may do so by submitting comments in 
writing to Margaret P. Grafeld, Director, Office of Information 
Programs and Services, A/ISS/IPS, U.S. Department of State, SA-2, 
Washington, DC 20522-8001. This amendment to the Overseas Citizens 
Services Records will be effective 40 days from the date of 
publication, unless comments are received that result in a contrary 
determination. The amendment will read as follows.

    Dated: April 15, 2008.
Rajkumar Chellaraj,
Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Administration, Department of 
State.
STATE-05

System Name:
    Overseas Citizens Services Records.

Security classification:
    Unclassified and Classified.

System location:
    Department of State, Overseas Citizens Services, 2100 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20037 and overseas at U.S. embassies, U.S. 
consulates general and consulates. (A list of overseas posts is 
available from the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Room 4800, Department of 
State, Washington, DC 20520-4818.)

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Individuals assisted by the Office of Overseas Citizens Services or 
by consular officers overseas, including persons, generally U.S. 
citizens, who:
    (a) Seek to establish claims to U.S. citizenship or inquire 
concerning possible loss of U.S. citizenship;
    (b) Apply for U.S. passports here and abroad or Consular Reports of 
Birth or Death Abroad;
    (c) Register as U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad;
    (d) Seek to be and/or are evacuated to the United States or a third 
country as a result of a civil disorder, natural disaster or similar 
emergency in an overseas locale;
    (e) Initiate requests relating to another U.S. citizen's welfare 
and whereabouts or are themselves the subjects of such requests;
    (f) Seek to receive and/or receive financial assistance or are 
repatriated;
    (g) Seek to receive and/or receive emergency medical assistance;
    (h) Are detained or arrested overseas;
    (i) Seek to receive and/or receive notarial or authentication 
services or judicial assistance;
    (j) Die overseas or are involved in the disposition of a decedent's 
personal estate;
    (k) Have or assert an interest in property (real or personal) 
abroad;
    (l) Are living overseas and claim or receive federal benefits;
    (m) Have sought or received benefits by virtue of having been held 
hostage overseas or by virtue of their relationship with a person held 
hostage overseas;
    (n) Vote in U.S. federal and/or state elections while overseas;
    (o) Register with the U.S. Selective Service System while living 
overseas;
    (p) Are American Seamen inquiring about seamen consular services;
    (q) Are involved in an international child custody dispute, 
possible child abuse case, or child support enforcement proceeding;
    (r) Seek to adopt and/or adopt a child from a foreign country;
    (s) Participate in the intercountry adoption process;
    (t) Are children who are eligible for intercountry adoption and/or 
are adopted, and either immigrate to or emigrate from the United 
States, whether or not such adoption is covered by the Hague Convention 
on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry 
Adoption, Treaty Doc. 105-51, signed May 29, 1993 (Hague Intercountry 
Adoption Convention) and its implementing legislation (Intercountry 
Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA), (42 U.S.C. 14901 et seq.)) and regulations;
    (u) Seek to provide, have provided, and/or do provide intercountry 
adoption services, in connection with an adoption case whether or not 
such case is covered by the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention and 
the IAA;
    (v) Contribute to, or are a subject of, a complaint in the 
Complaint Registry created pursuant to 22 CFR 96.68 et seq.;
    (w) Seek to receive and/or receive information or assistance 
regarding an alleged or possible international child abduction;
    (x) Are or may be a victim of a crime abroad;
    (y) Seek to receive and/or receive information or assistance 
regarding travel abroad;
    (z) Seek to take and/or take temporary refugee abroad;
    (aa) Seek assistance from embassies or consulates overseas or from 
Overseas Citizens Services.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    (a) 8 U.S.C. 1104 (Powers and Duties of the Secretary of State);
    (b) 22 U.S.C. 3904 (Functions of the Foreign Service, including 
protection of U.S. citizens in foreign countries under the Vienna 
Convention on Consular Relations and assistance to other agencies);
    (c) 22 U.S.C. 1731 (Protection of naturalized U.S. citizens in 
foreign countries);
    (d) 22 U.S.C. 211a, 212, 213, 217a, 218 (Passport application and 
issuance);
    (e) 22 U.S.C. 2705 (Preparation of Consular Reports of Birth 
Abroad);
    (f) 8 U.S.C. 1501 (Adjudication of possible loss of nationality);
    (g) 22 U.S.C. 2671(b)(2)(B) (Repatriation loan for destitute U.S. 
citizens abroad);
    (h) 22 U.S.C. 2670(j) (Provision of emergency medical, dietary and 
other assistance);
    (i) 22 U.S.C. 2151n-1 (Assistance to arrested citizens) (Repealed, 
but applicable to past records);
    (j) 42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1973ff-6 (Overseas absentee voting);
    (k) 42 U.S.C. 402 (Social Security benefits payments);

[[Page 24343]]

    (l) Sec. 599C of Public Law 101-513, 104 Stat. 1979, as amended 
(Claims to benefits by virtue of hostage status);
    (m) 50 U.S.C. App. 453, 454, Presidential Proclamation No. 4771, 
July 2, 1980 as amended by Presidential Proclamation 7275, February 22, 
2000 (Selective Service registration);
    (n) 22 U.S.C. 5501-5513 (Aviation disaster and security assistance 
abroad; mandatory availability of airline passengers manifest);
    (o) 22 U.S.C. 4196; (22 U.S.C. 4195, repealed, but applicable to 
past records) (Official notification of death of U.S. citizens in 
foreign countries; transmission of inventory of effects);
    (p) 22 U.S.C. 2715b (notification of next of kin of death of U.S. 
citizens in foreign countries);
    (q) 22 U.S.C. 4197 (Assistance with disposition of estates of U.S. 
citizens upon death in a foreign country);
    (r) 22 U.S.C. 4193, 4194; 22 U.S.C. 4205-4207; 46 U.S.C. 10318 
(Merchant seamen protection and relief);
    (s) 22 U.S.C. 4193 (Receiving protests or declarations of U.S. 
citizen passengers, merchants in foreign ports);
    (t) 46 U.S.C. 10701-10705 (Responsibility for deceased seamen and 
their effects);
    (u) 22 U.S.C. 2715a (Responsibility to inform victims and their 
families regarding crimes against U.S. citizens abroad);
    (v) 22 U.S.C. 4215, 4221 (Administration of oaths, affidavits, and 
other notarial acts);
    (w) 28 U.S.C. 1740, 1741 (Authentication of documents);
    (x) 28 U.S.C. 1781-1783 (Judicial Assistance to U.S. and foreign 
courts and litigants);
    (y) 42 U.S.C. 14901-14954; Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, 
(Assistance with intercountry adoptions under the Hague Intercountry 
Adoption Convention, maintenance of related records);
    (z) 42 U.S.C. 11601-11610, International Child Abduction Remedies 
Act (Assistance to applicants in the location and return of children 
wrongfully removed or retained or for securing effective exercise of 
rights of access);
    (aa) 22 U.S.C. 4802 (overseas evacuations).

Categories of records in the system:
    Applications for passports and registration as U.S. citizens*; 
Consular Reports of Birth Abroad*; Certificates of Loss of Nationality 
of the United States*; Reports of Death* and Reports of Presumed Death; 
emergency medical and dietary loan applications; repatriation loan 
applications; applications for benefits for hostages and their 
families; seamen services records; welfare and whereabouts records; 
records related to federal benefits claims, property claims, arrest 
cases, matters or inquiries (``cases''), estate cases, evacuation 
cases, prisoner transfer cases, refuge cases, victims of crime cases, 
exit ban cases, judicial assistance cases, international adoption cases 
(including those covered under the Hague Adoption Convention and the 
Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000), and child custody cases (including 
those covered by the Hague Abduction Convention and the International 
Child Abduction Remedies Act).
    These records may also include completed ``Local American Citizens 
Skills/Resources Survey'' forms; registration cards; interview 
worksheets; case notes; fingerprint cards; documents of identity; 
passenger manifests; and various related forms not otherwise stated. 
These records may further include communications to and from U.S. 
embassies, U.S. consulates, and consular agencies; federal, state, and 
local government agencies; members of Congress; officials of foreign 
governments; U.S. and foreign courts; U.S. and foreign nongovernmental 
organizations, including disaster or emergency relief organizations 
such as the International Red Cross, Red Crescent and others; and the 
subject(s) of the records, their relatives, and other interested 
parties. Records marked with an asterisk (*) are maintained, stored, 
and preserved as Passport Records, STATE-26.

Purpose:
    The information in the Overseas Citizens Services Records System is 
used primarily in the adjudication of claims relating to acquisition or 
loss of U.S. citizenship; the protection and assistance of individuals 
abroad including death cases, loan and destitution cases, welfare and 
whereabouts cases, prisoner (including prisoner transfer) cases; 
assistance to individuals involved in international adoption cases and 
in child custody cases; assistance to individuals involved in child 
support enforcement proceedings; oversight of accredited and approved 
adoption service providers and the designated accrediting entities of 
adoption service providers; and the resolution of property, estate, and 
benefits claims arising under the pertinent statutes.

Routine uses for records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and purposes of such uses:
    The principal users of this information outside of the Department 
of State are: The Social Security Administration, Office of Personnel 
Management, Veterans' Administration, Railroad Retirement Board, 
Department of Labor, and Department of the Treasury in connection with 
administration of federal benefits to U.S. citizens abroad; Federal 
Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board in 
connection with U.S. citizens traveling abroad and aviation accidents; 
Department of Commerce, U.S. Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast 
Guard in connection with international commerce, shipping and seamen; 
Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Public Health Service, 
and Centers for Disease Control in connection with international travel 
and health issues and repatriation of U.S. citizens abroad; Department 
of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration in connection with 
the arrest or detention of U.S. citizens overseas and prisoner transfer 
agreements; Foreign Claims Settlement Commission in connection with the 
adjudication of claims of U.S. citizens against foreign governments; 
Selective Service in connection with Armed Services registration 
requirements of U.S. citizens; Department of Defense, Department of 
Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and the Secret Service in 
connection with coordinating evacuations abroad and processing of 
immigration and naturalization matters; Department of Homeland Security 
in connection with intercountry adoptions; Internal Revenue Service for 
the current addresses of specifically identified taxpayers in 
connection with pending actions to collect taxes accrued, examinations, 
and/or other related tax activities and for the names and current 
location of taxpayers who are held hostage abroad in terrorist and non-
terrorist related incidents; federal and state courts in connection 
with judicial and related matters; foreign and domestic airlines in 
connection with assisting U.S. citizens in emergency situations, 
including aviation disasters; funeral homes in connection with the 
death abroad of U.S. citizens; members of Congress when the information 
is requested on behalf of the individual to whom access is authorized 
under this notice; shipping companies when the information is 
maintained pursuant to the Department's responsibilities under Titles 
22 and 46 of the U.S. Code; immediate family when the information

[[Page 24344]]

is for the benefit of the subject; private U.S. citizen ``wardens'' 
designated by U.S. embassies and U.S. consulates general and consulates 
to serve as channels of communication with other Americans in the local 
community, primarily in evacuations and other emergency situations; 
foreign-based organizations of private U.S. citizens to assist U.S. 
citizens in evacuations and other emergency situations; foreign and 
U.S. nongovernmental organizations, including disaster or emergency 
relief organizations such as the International Red Cross, Red Crescent 
and others, to the media and relevant Web sites that maintain lists of 
U.S. citizens who are known to be found safe from and/or are reported 
missing as a result of a natural or other disaster, including political 
upheaval, abroad; foreign governments, embassies and consulates when 
the request for information is made pursuant to customary international 
practice; attorneys when the individual to whom the information 
pertains is the client of the attorney making the request, or when the 
attorney is acting on behalf of some other individual to whom access is 
authorized under these rules; private citizens whenever the individual 
to whom the information pertains has authorized the Department in 
writing to release that information; State governments, including state 
law enforcement agencies, state prosecutors, judicial staff, 
departments of human services and licensing authorities, in connection 
with adoptions, law enforcement, and health, safety, welfare and 
related matters, including child abduction cases, custody disputes and 
notification of next of kin; individuals and entities identified by 
state governments to assist in intercountry adoption and abduction 
cases, including adoption service providers, Bar Associations and legal 
aid services; local police and social service agencies in connection 
with law enforcement and health, safety and welfare and related 
matters, including child abduction cases, custody disputes, cases of 
runaways and abandoned or neglected children, and notification of next 
of kin; INTERPOL and other law enforcement agencies in connection with 
law enforcement issues and health, safety and welfare and related 
matters, including child adoption and abduction cases, custody disputes 
and notification of next of kin; National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children in connection with child abduction cases; central 
and public authorities of, and bodies duly accredited in, member and 
nonmember countries of the Hague International Child Abduction 
Convention in connection with specific child abduction cases and 
systemic issues; central and public authorities of, and bodies duly 
accredited in, member and nonmember countries of the Hague Intercountry 
Adoption Convention in connection with intercountry adoptions, both 
specific cases and systemic issues; organizations designated by the 
Department of State as Accrediting Entities in accordance with the IAA 
in connection with accreditation or approval of adoption service 
providers; adoption service providers in connection with the health, 
safety and welfare of participants in intercountry adoptions, 
diplomatic inquiries regarding compliance with the Hague Intercountry 
Adoption Convention and Complaint Registry related matters; and 
biological and adoptive parents, guardians, and children involved in 
intercountry adoption and abduction cases.
    This information may also be released on a need-to-know basis to 
other government agencies having statutory or other lawful authority to 
maintain such information. Information is made available to routine 
users only for an established routine use.
    The routine uses for Passport Records, STATE-26, apply to 
applications for passports and registration as U.S. citizens, Consular 
Reports of Birth Abroad, Certificates of Loss of Nationality of the 
United States, Reports of Death, and related documentation.
    Also see the Department of State Prefatory Statement of Routine 
Uses published in the Federal Register.

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

Retrievability:
    By individual name, birth date, or passport number, or other 
personal identifier if available.

Safeguards:
    All Department of State employees and contractors with authorized 
access, have undergone a thorough personnel security background 
investigation. All users are given information system security 
awareness training, including the procedures for handling Sensitive But 
Unclassified (SBU) and personally identifiable information, before 
being allowed to access the Department of State SBU network. Annual 
refresher training is mandatory. Before being granted access to the 
system of records, a user must first be granted access to SBU network. 
Access is only granted to users with Diplomatic Security-approved 
clearances. Users must sign a Password Receipt Controls Form.
    Access to the Department of State building and the annexes is 
controlled by security guards, and admission is limited to those 
individuals possessing a valid identification card or individuals under 
proper escort. All records containing personal information are 
maintained in secured filing cabinets or in restricted areas, access to 
which is limited to authorized personnel. Access to electronic files is 
password-protected and under the direct supervision of the system 
manager. When a user is added to a particular database role, his/her 
access is limited to only the data set and functions necessary.
    For authentication, the system of records requires passwords that 
are known only to the users. The password policy used is mandated by 12 
FAM. The system manager has the capability of printing audit trails of 
access from the computer media, thereby permitting regular and ad hoc 
monitoring of computer usage.
    The system of records structures access privileges to reflect the 
separation of key duties that end-users perform within the functions 
the application supports. Access privileges are consistent with the 
need-to-know, separation of duties, and supervisory requirements 
established for manual processes.
    When it is determined that a user no longer needs access, the user 
account will be disabled.
    Data transmitted to and from post to domestic systems are protected 
by the bulk encryption hardware components inherent within SBU network 
that encrypt the data from posts to the Consular Consolidated Database.
    Automated vulnerability scanning of the system of records is 
conducted overseas and domestically to ensure that the servers and 
workstations that process, store or transact records are ``locked-
down.''

Retention and disposal:
    These records will be maintained until they become inactive, at 
which time they will be destroyed or retired in accordance with 
published record disposition schedules of the Department of State and 
as approved by the National Archives and Records Administration. More 
specific information may be obtained by writing to the Director, Office 
of Information Programs and Services, A/IPS/IPS, SA-2, Department of 
State, Washington, DC 20522-8001.

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System manager and address:
    Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizens Services; Room 
4800, Department of State, 2201 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20520-
4818. At overseas locations, the onsite system manager is the Chief of 
the Consular Section or another State Department employee with 
responsibility for consular services as provided by the post in 
question.

Record access and amendment procedures:
    Individuals seeking to determine whether the Office of Overseas 
Citizens Services has records pertaining to them should write to the 
Director, Office of Information Programs and Services, A/ISS/IPS, SA-2, 
Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-8001. The individual must 
specify that he or she wishes the records of the Overseas Citizens 
Services to be checked and request notification of whether the system 
of Overseas Citizens Services records contains a record pertaining to 
him or her. At a minimum, the individual should include: Name; date and 
place of birth; current mailing address and zip code; signature; a 
brief description of the circumstances that caused the creation of the 
record (including the city and/or country and the approximate dates) 
which gives the individual cause to believe that Overseas Citizens 
Services has records pertaining to him or her. In accord with E.O. 
9397, providing a Social Security number is optional, but may assist 
the Department in locating relevant records. [ A request to search 
Overseas Citizens Services Records, STATE-05, will be treated also as a 
request to search Passport Records, STATE-26, when it pertains to 
passport, registration, citizenship, birth or death records transferred 
from STATE-05 to STATE-26.]
    Individuals who wish to gain access to or to amend records 
pertaining to themselves should write to the Director, Office of 
Information Programs and Services (address above).

Record source categories:
    These records contain information that is primarily obtained from 
the individual who is the subject of the records. Information may also 
be obtained from federal, state, and local government entities and 
nongovernmental authorities in accordance with a routine use.

System exempted from certain provisions of the act:
    In accord with Department of State's rules published in the Federal 
Register (see 22 CFR 171.36), certain records contained within this 
system of records are exempted from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), 
(e)(4)(G), (e)(4)(H), (e)(4)(I) and (f), when: Required to be kept 
secret in the interest of national defense and foreign policy; 
necessary to prevent individuals that are the subject of investigation 
from frustrating the investigatory process, to ensure the proper 
functioning and integrity of law enforcement activities, to prevent 
disclosure of investigative techniques, to maintain the confidence of 
foreign governments in the integrity of the procedures under which 
privileged or confidential information may be provided, and to fulfill 
commitments made to sources to protect their identities and the 
confidentiality of information and to avoid endangering these sources 
and law enforcement personnel. Disclosure would impair the Department's 
effective performance in carrying out its lawful protective 
responsibilities under 18 U.S.C. 3056 and 22 U.S.C. 4802.

[FR Doc. E8-9737 Filed 5-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-24-P