[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 9, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74743-74746]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-29059]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DHS-2008-0160]


Privacy Act of 1974; Science & Technology Directorate-001 
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Records System of Records

AGENCY: Privacy Office, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of 
Homeland Security proposes to add a new system of records titled 
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Records. This system 
maintains records collected in support of, or during the conduct of, 
Science & Technology-funded research, development, test, and evaluation 
activities. This new system will be added to the Department's inventory 
of record systems.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before January 8, 2009. 
This new system will be effective January 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2008-0160 by one of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-866-466-5370.
     Mail: Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy 
Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
     Instructions: All submissions received must include the 
agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments 
received will be posted without change and may be read at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
     Docket: For access to the docket to read background 
documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For system related questions please 
contact the Science & Technology Directorate's Regulatory Compliance 
Office at [email protected]. For privacy issues, please 
contact: Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, 
Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    An integral part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
Science & Technology Directorate's (S&T) mission is to conduct 
research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E activities) on 
topics and technologies related to improving homeland security and 
combating terrorism. Some RDT&E activities involve the collection of 
personally identifiable information. This system of records notice 
covers records collected in support of, or during the conduct of, DHS/
S&T-funded RDT&E activities, where those records are retrieved by 
personal identifier.
    As a general rule, the information collected will be used by DHS/
S&T solely for the purposes of RDT&E activities. The information 
collected will not be used for law enforcement, intelligence, or any 
purpose other than RDT&E. The information collected will never be used 
in operations and no operational decision will be based in any part on 
the information collected. These limitations on the use of the 
information collected will apply even in DHS/S&T-funded RDT&E 
activities in which law enforcement and/or intelligence personnel are 
directly involved in the activity. A different SORN, a SORN other than 
this SORN, is required to address any DHS/S&T-funded RDT&E activities 
from which information collected would be used for any purpose other 
than RDT&E activities.
    The only exception to the above general rule limiting the use of 
collected information to RTD&E activities is if, during a human subject 
testing activity, the individual provides information that indicates a 
violation or potential violation of law, which includes criminal, 
civil, or regulatory violations. Only in that limited situation, the 
information collected may be referred to Federal, State, tribal, local, 
international, or foreign law enforcement agency or other appropriate 
authority charged with investigating or prosecuting a violation or 
enforcing or implementing a law, rule, regulation, or order, pursuant 
to Routine Use G, below.
    Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of Homeland 
Security proposes to add a new system of records titled Research, 
Development, Test, and Evaluation Records. This system maintains 
records collected in support of, or during the conduct, of Science & 
Technology-funded research, development, test, and evaluation 
activities. This new system will be added to the Department's inventory 
of record systems.

II. The Privacy Act

    The Privacy Act embodies fair information principles in a statutory 
framework governing the means by which the United States Government 
collects, maintains, uses and disseminates individuals' records. The 
Privacy Act applies to information that is maintained in a ``system of 
records.'' A ``system of records'' is a group of any records under the 
control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of 
an individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other 
particular assigned to an individual. In the Privacy Act, an individual 
is defined to encompass United States citizens and legal permanent 
residents (LPRs). As a matter of policy, DHS extends administrative 
Privacy Act protections

[[Page 74744]]

to all individuals, including aliens who are not LPRs, on whom a system 
of records maintain information. Individuals may request access to 
their own records that are maintained in a system of records in the 
possession or under the control of DHS by complying with DHS Privacy 
Act regulations, 6 CFR Part 5.
    The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish in the Federal 
Register a description denoting the type and character of each system 
of records that the agency maintains, and the routine uses that are 
contained in each system to make agency recordkeeping practices 
transparent, to notify individuals regarding the uses of their records, 
and to assist the individual to more easily find such files within the 
agency. Below is a description of the Research, Development, Test, and 
Evaluation Records System of records.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), a report on this system has 
been sent to Congress and to the Office of Management and Budget.

System of Records:
DHS/S&T-001

System name:
    Science & Technology Directorate Research, Development, Test, and 
Evaluation Records.

System location:
    Records are maintained at the S&T Headquarters in Washington, D.C., 
in S&T field offices, and at public or private institutions, including 
the National Labs, conducting research funded by S&T.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Categories of individuals covered by this notice include voluntary 
participants in S&T-funded human subjects research (all S&T-funded 
human subjects research is conducted in accordance with 45 CFR 46 and 
is reviewed by a certified Institutional Review Board); individuals 
whose names may appear in publicly available documents (e.g., 
newspapers and academic articles) about terrorism, terrorist events, 
violent groups, or other topics related to terrorism research; 
individuals whose image, biometrics, physiological features, or other 
information may be intentionally (with notice to and consent by the 
individual) or incidentally captured during testing of S&T 
technologies; and subject matter experts who publish articles related 
to terrorism or biomedical and life sciences research; and subject 
matter experts who voluntarily consent to be included in a database of 
experts.

Categories of records in the system:
    S&T RDT&E Records will vary according to the specific project. The 
information may include an individual's:
     Individual's name;
     Age;
     Gender;
     Contact information;
     Birthplace;
     Ethnicity;
     Level of education;
     Occupation;
     Institutional or organizational affiliation;
     Publication record, such as article and publication 
titles, dates and sources;
     Medical history;
     Lifestyle information (e.g., caffeine or tobacco use);
     Publicly available reports of criminal history;
     Video or still images;
     Other images (e.g., infrared thermography, terahertz, 
millimeter wave);
     Audio recordings;
     Fingerprints or other biometric information; and
     Physiological measurements collected using sensors (e.g., 
heart rate, breathing pattern, and electrodermal activity).

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    5 U.S.C. 301; the Federal Records Act, 44 U.S.C. 3101; The Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 [Pub. L. 1007-296, Sec.  302(4)] as codified in 
Section 182(b) Title 6 Chapter I Subchapter III of the United States 
Code (6 U.S.C. 182(b)), authorizes the Science and Technology 
Directorate to conduct ``basic and applied research, development, 
demonstration, testing, and evaluation activities that are relevant to 
any or all elements of the Department, through both intramural and 
extramural programs.'' In exercising its responsibility under the 
Homeland Security Act, S&T is authorized to collect information, as 
appropriate, to support research and development related to improving 
the security of the homeland. Where research includes human subjects, 
S&T complies with the provisions of DHS Management Directive 026-04, 
``Protection of Human Subjects'', which adopts the regulations set 
forth in 45 Code of Federal Regulations 46 and establishes Departmental 
policy for the protection of human subjects in research.

Purpose(s):
    The purposes of S&T's RDT&E records are to:
     Understand the motivations and behaviors of terrorists, 
individuals that engage in violent or criminal activities, terrorist 
groups, and groups that engage in violent or criminal activities.
     Understand terrorist incidents and the phenomenon of 
terrorist and identify trends and patterns in terrorist activities.
     Collect and maintain searchable records of individuals 
(such as subject matter experts on chemical weapons) and/or their 
characteristics and professional accomplishments, organized according 
to categories useful for the conduct of research, including research to 
determine the efficacy and utility of new or enhanced technologies 
intended for eventual transition to and use by S&T's customers.
     Evaluate the performance and utility to the future 
customer of an experimental homeland security technology or product in 
a laboratory or ``real-world'' setting.
     Test the accuracy of a research hypothesis. (For example, 
S&T might hypothesize that an individual's behavior changes in a 
detectable manner when he or she is being deceitful, and then design a 
research experiment to test that hypothesis.)
     Answer a research question. (For example, ``Can an 
experimental screening technology distinguish between threat objects 
and non-threat objects?'').
     Conduct testing and evaluation of an experimental 
technology at the request of or on behalf of a customer.
     Conduct research and development to solve a technical 
problem for a customer.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a portion of the records or 
information contained in this system may be disclosed outside DHS as a 
routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3):
    A. To the Department of Justice or other Federal agency conducting 
litigation or in proceedings before any court, adjudicative or 
administrative body, when it is necessary to the litigation and one of 
the following is a party to the litigation or has an interest in such 
litigation:
    1. DHS or any component thereof;
    2. Any employee of DHS in his/her official capacity;
    3. Any employee of DHS in his/her individual capacity where DOJ or 
DHS has agreed to represent the employee; or
    4. The United States or any agency thereof, is a party to the 
litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and DHS

[[Page 74745]]

determines that the records are both relevant and necessary to the 
litigation and the use of such records is compatible with the purpose 
for which DHS collected the records.
    B. To a congressional office from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry from that congressional office made at the 
request of the individual to whom the record pertains.
    C. To the National Archives and Records Administration or other 
Federal Government agencies pursuant to records management inspections 
being conducted under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    D. To an agency, organization, or individual for the purpose of 
performing audit or oversight operations as authorized by law, but only 
such information as is necessary and relevant to such audit or 
oversight function.
    E. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when:
    1. DHS suspects or has confirmed that the security or 
confidentiality of information in the system of records has been 
compromised;
    2. The Department has determined that as a result of the suspected 
or confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or 
integrity of this system or other systems or programs (whether 
maintained by DHS or another agency or entity) or harm to the 
individual who relies upon the compromised information; and
    3. The disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is 
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with DHS's efforts to 
respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, 
or remedy such harm.
    F. To contractors and their agents, grantees, experts, consultants, 
and others performing or working on a contract, service, grant, 
cooperative agreement, or other assignment for DHS, when necessary to 
accomplish an agency function related to this system of records. 
Individuals provided information under this routine use are subject to 
the same Privacy Act requirements and limitations on disclosure as are 
applicable to DHS officers and employees.
    G. To an appropriate Federal, State, tribal, local, international, 
or foreign law enforcement agency or other appropriate authority 
charged with investigating or prosecuting a violation or enforcing or 
implementing a law, rule, regulation, or order, where a record, either 
on its face or in conjunction with other information, indicates a 
violation or potential violation of law, which includes criminal, 
civil, or regulatory violations and such disclosure is proper and 
consistent with the official duties of the person making the 
disclosure.

Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
    None.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    RDT&E records maintained in hard copy are stored in a locked file 
cabinet or safe. Electronic records are stored in computer files that 
require a password for access and are protected by a firewall.

Retrievability:
    In most cases, S&T RDT&E is focused on evaluating the performance 
of a given experimental technology or system. Thus, only the aggregated 
performance data (e.g., the technology has a 5 percent false positive 
rate, or the technology is accurate 92 percent of the time) is 
important and relevant to S&T. For this reason, S&T RDT&E records are 
not as a matter of course retrieved by name or other identifier 
assigned to the individual. However, S&T may need to access RDT&E 
records by name or other identifier in order to make corrections to an 
individual's record, resolve an anomaly related to a specific 
individual's record, and/or link disparate pieces of information 
related to an individual. For example, if an individual informed a 
researcher that he or she had inadvertently provided incorrect 
information regarding his or her medical history, the researcher would 
retrieve that individual's record using the research identifier in 
order to correct the erroneous data.

Safeguards:
    All RDT&E records are protected by employing a multi-layer security 
approach to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data through 
appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. 
Protective strategies such as implementing physical access controls at 
DHS facilities; ensuring confidentiality of communications using tools 
such as encryption, authentication of sending parties, and 
compartmentalizing databases; and employing auditing software and 
personnel screening to ensure that all personnel with access to data 
are screened through background investigations commensurate with the 
level of access required to perform their duties.
    S&T RDT&E records are also monitored for changes to the source 
data. The system manager has the capability to maintain system back-ups 
for the purpose of supporting continuity of operations and the discrete 
need to isolate and copy specific data transactions for the purpose of 
conducting privacy or security incident investigations. S&T RDT&E 
records are secured in full compliance with the requirements of DHS IT 
Security Program Handbook. This handbook establishes a comprehensive 
information security program.

Retention and disposal:
    All records will be maintained in accordance with the NARA-approved 
retention schedule. All existing S&T RDT&E records fall under General 
Records System 20, which covers the disposition of Electronic files or 
records created solely to test system performance, as well as hard-copy 
printouts and related documentation for the electronic files/records. 
According to General Records System 20, records should be ``delete[d]/
destroy[ed] when the agency determines that they are no longer needed 
for administrative, legal, audit, or other operational purposes.'' 
Electronic records will be deleted from all computers, storage devices, 
and networks, and paper records will be shredded.

System manager(s) and address:
    S&T Regulatory Compliance Office, Mail Stop: 2100, Department of 
Homeland Security, 245 Murray Lane, SW., Washington, DC 20528.

Notification procedure:
    Individuals seeking notification of and access to any record 
contained in this system of records, or seeking to contest its content, 
may submit a request in writing to S&T FOIA Coordinator, Mail Stop: 
2100, Department of Homeland Security, 245 Murray Lane, SW., 
Washington, DC 20528, Specific FOIA contact information can be found at 
http://www.dhs.gov/foia under ``contacts.''
    When seeking records about yourself from this system of records or 
any other S&T system of records your request must conform with the 
Privacy Act regulations set forth in 6 CFR Part 5. You must first 
verify your identity, meaning that you must provide your full name, 
current address and date and place of birth. You must sign your 
request, and your signature must either 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. While no specific form is 
required, you may obtain forms for this purpose from

[[Page 74746]]

the Director, Disclosure and FOIA, http://www.dhs.gov or 1-866-431-
0486. In addition you should provide the following:
     An explanation of why you believe the Department would 
have information on you,
     Specify when you believe the records would have been 
created,
     If your request is seeking records pertaining to another 
living individual, you must include a statement from that individual 
certifying his/her agreement for you to access his/her records.
    Without this bulleted information the S&T may not be able to 
conduct an effective search, and your request may be denied due to lack 
of specificity or lack of compliance with applicable regulations.

Record access procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Contesting record procedures:
    See ``Notification procedure'' above.

Record source categories:
    S&T RDT&E records include: (1) Records collected directly from the 
individual; (2) publicly available documents (e.g., articles from 
newspapers and academic journals); (3) records collected from the 
individual using sensors (e.g., a heart rate monitor) or technologies 
(e.g., cameras, audio recorders, infrared thermography or other images, 
or biometric devices).

Exemptions claimed for the system:
    None.

    Dated: December 1, 2008.
Hugo Teufel III,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
 [FR Doc. E8-29059 Filed 12-8-08; 8:45 am]
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