[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 62 (Friday, March 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19317-19320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06745]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket No. DHS-2022-0042]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management 
Agency.

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of 
Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to update and reissue a current system 
of records titled, ``Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA)-012 Suspicious Activity Reporting System of 
Records.'' This system of records allows DHS/FEMA to collect, maintain, 
and retrieve records on individuals reported as being involved in 
suspicious activities, individuals who report suspicious activities, 
and individuals charged with the analysis and appropriate handling of 
suspicious activity reports. DHS/FEMA is updating this system of 
records to (1) revise contact and administrative information associated 
with this system of records, (2) add to the categories of records 
collected, (3) modify routine uses, and (4) other non-substantive 
changes. This updated system will be included in DHS's inventory of 
record systems.

DATES: Submit comments on or before May 1, 2023. This modified system 
will be effective upon publication. New or modified routine uses will 
be effective May 1, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2022-0042 by one of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-343-4010.
     Mail: Mason Cutter, Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, 
Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, 20528-0655.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number DHS-2022. All comments received will be posted 
without change to 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 general questions please contact: 
Tammi

[[Page 19318]]

Hines, (202) 646-3606, [email protected], Privacy Officer, 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security, 
Washington, DC, 20478. For privacy questions please contact: Mason 
Cutter, (202) 343-1717, [email protected], Chief Privacy Officer, 
Privacy Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, 20528-
0655.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, DHS/FEMA proposes to 
update and reissue a current DHS/FEMA system of records titled, ``DHS/
FEMA-012 Suspicious Activity Reporting System of Records.'' FEMA's 
mission is to ``support our citizens and first responders to ensure 
that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our 
capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, 
and mitigate all hazards.'' In support of this mission, and to ensure 
the safety of its citizens and first responders, FEMA collects, 
maintains, and retrieves records of individuals reported as being 
involved in suspicious activities and of individuals who report 
suspicious activities. FEMA's Office of the Chief Security Officer 
(OCSO), Fraud Investigations and Inspections Division (FIID) manages 
this process. Investigators and Analysts are assigned to complete the 
analysis of suspicious activity reports; they are also responsible for 
the appropriate handling of such reports.
    FEMA Suspicious Activity Reports may be shared with federal, state, 
local, and tribal jurisdictions with responsibility for investigating 
suspicious activities within their jurisdictions. FEMA Suspicious 
Activity Reports that have a nexus to terrorism or hazards to homeland 
security, as determined by FEMA FIID Investigators or Analysts, and 
require immediate attention are reported to the police or law 
enforcement agency of jurisdiction via telephone and uploaded into the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) eGuardian system by FEMA FIID 
Investigators or Analysts in coordination with the agency that reported 
the information. All investigators and analysts who submit reports to 
the eGuardian system are trained in the DHS Nationwide Suspicious 
Activity Reports Initiative, per DHS policy.
    FEMA is updating this System of Records Notice to reflect the 
following changes: (1) the contact information for general questions 
and administrative information has been updated, as well as the 
Authority for Maintenance of the System section; (2) the categories of 
records have been updated to clarify the information collected in 
suspicious activity reports; and (3) Routine Use E has been modified 
and Routine Use F has been added to conform to Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-17-12 regarding breach notification and 
investigation.
    Furthermore, non-substantive changes to simplify the formatting and 
text of the previously published notice and the references to FEMA's 
Office of Chief Security Officer (OCSO) have been updated to identify 
FEMA's Fraud Investigations and Inspections Division as the specific 
office responsible for suspicious activity reporting.
    Consistent with DHS's information sharing mission, information 
stored in the DHS/FEMA-012 Suspicious Activity Reporting System of 
Records may be shared with other DHS components that have a need to 
know the information to carry out their national security, law 
enforcement, immigration, intelligence, or other homeland security 
functions. In addition, information may be shared with appropriate 
federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, foreign, or international 
government agencies consistent with the routine uses set forth in this 
system of records notice.
    This modified system will be included in DHS's inventory of record 
systems.

II. Privacy Act

    The Privacy Act embodies fair information practice principles in a 
statutory framework governing the means by which federal government 
agencies collect, maintain, use, and disseminate 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 
identifying particular assigned to the individual. The Privacy Act 
defines ``individual'' to encompass U.S. citizens and lawful permanent 
residents. Additionally, the Judicial Redress Act (JRA) provides 
covered persons with a statutory right to make requests for access and 
amendment to covered records, as defined by the JRA, and judicial 
review of denials of such requests. In addition, the JRA prohibits 
disclosures of covered records, except as otherwise permitted by the 
Privacy Act.
    Below is the description of the DHS/FEMA-12 Suspicious Activity 
Reporting System of Records.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), DHS has provided a report of 
this system of records to the Office of Management and Budget, and to 
Congress.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA)-012 Suspicious Activity Reporting System of Records.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    For official use only (FOUO) and law enforcement sensitive (LES). 
This system does not contain classified information.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Records are maintained on a FEMA Exchange Server that is access-
controlled and under the management and control of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Office of Chief Information Officer 
at FEMA Headquarters, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472.

SYSTEM MANAGERS:
    Office of the Chief Security Officer, Fraud Investigations and 
Inspections Division, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    42 U.S.C. 5196(d); Executive Orders 12333 and 13388; 40 U.S.C. 
1315(b)(2)(F); 6 U.S.C. 314 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
amended; the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, 
as amended; and the National Security Act of 1947, as amended.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The purpose of this system is to collect, investigate, analyze, and 
report suspicious activities to the police or law enforcement agency of 
jurisdiction and upload the Suspicious Activity Reports into the FEMA 
Exchange Server in coordination with the agency that reported the 
information.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Categories of individuals covered by the system include individuals 
reported as being involved in suspicious activities, individuals who 
report suspicious activities, and Fraud Investigations and Inspections 
Division Investigators and Analysts assigned to analyze and 
appropriately handle suspicious activity reports.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The following fields related to individuals may be maintained in 
this system:

[[Page 19319]]

     Report of the suspicious activity (e.g., description of 
the suspicious activity and physical descriptors of individuals 
involved in suspicious activity);
     Case/incident number;
     Name (first, middle, and last);
     Address (number, street, apartment, city, and state);
     Age;
     Sex;
     Race for subject description;
     Signature (investigator, analyst, or law enforcement 
officer (LEO));
     Jurisdiction over the suspected activity;
     Injury code (a dropdown that lists the codes in question 
(0-None, 1-Refused, 2-First Aid, 3-Hospital, 4-Deceased) (if 
applicable));
     Telephone numbers (home, business, or cell);
     Other contact information (e.g., email address); and
     Property information (e.g., name, quantity, serial number, 
brand name, model, value, year, make, color, identifying 
characteristics, registration information).

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Records are obtained from individuals reported as being involved in 
suspicious activities, individuals who report suspicious activities, 
Fraud Investigations and Inspections Division Investigators and 
Analysts, commercially available systems (LexisNexis) and other 
federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND 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) as follows:
    A. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), including Offices of the 
U.S. Attorneys, or to another federal agency conducting litigation or 
in proceedings before any court, adjudicative, or administrative body, 
when it is relevant and 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 or former employee of DHS in their official 
capacity;
    3. Any employee or former employee of DHS in their individual 
capacity when DOJ or DHS has agreed to represent the employee; or
    4. The United States or any agency thereof.
    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 (NARA) or 
General Services Administration 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 there has been a breach of the system of 
records; (2) DHS has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, DHS (including 
its information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal 
Government, or national security; 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 
breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
    F. To another federal agency or federal entity, when DHS determines 
that information from this system of records is reasonably necessary to 
assist the recipient agency or entity in (1) responding to a suspected 
or confirmed breach or (2) preventing, minimizing, or remedying the 
risk of harm to individuals, the recipient agency or entity (including 
its information systems, programs, and operations), the federal 
government, or national security, resulting from a suspected or 
confirmed breach.
    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, when 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.
    H. 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.
    I. To an appropriate federal, state, tribal, local, international 
counterterrorism agencies when DHS becomes aware of an indication of a 
threat or potential threat to security, and when such use is to assist 
in counterterrorism efforts.
    J. To an organization or individual in either the public or private 
sector, either foreign or domestic, when there is a reason to believe 
that the recipient is or could become the target of a particular 
terrorist activity or conspiracy, to the extent the information is 
relevant to the protection of life, property, or other vital interests 
of a data subject and disclosure is proper and consistent with the 
official duties of the person making the disclosure.
    K. To the news media and the public, with the approval of the Chief 
Privacy Officer in consultation with counsel, when there exists a 
legitimate public interest in the disclosure of the information, when 
disclosure is necessary to preserve confidence in the integrity of DHS, 
or is necessary to demonstrate the accountability of DHS's officers, 
employees, or individuals covered by the system, except to the extent 
it is determined that release of the specific information in the 
context of a particular case would constitute an unwarranted invasion 
of personal privacy.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    DHS/FEMA stores records in this system electronically on the 
access-controlled FEMA Exchange Server.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    DHS/FEMA retrieves records by case/incident number, name, address, 
and/or date.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    Pursuant to National Archives and Records Administration Schedule 
Number N1-311-99-6, Items 1, 2, and 3, files containing information or 
allegations that are of an investigative nature but do not relate to a 
specific investigation are destroyed after five (5) years. 
Investigative case files that involve allegations made against senior 
agency officials, attract significant attention in the media, attract 
congressional attention, result in substantive changes in agency 
policies and procedures, or are cited in the

[[Page 19320]]

Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) periodic reports to Congress 
are cut off when the case is closed, retired to the Federal Records 
Center (FRC) five (5) years after cutoff, and then transferred to the 
National Archives and Records Administration twenty (20) years after 
cutoff. All other investigative case files are placed in inactive files 
when a case is closed, cut off at the end of fiscal year, and destroyed 
ten (10) years after cutoff, except those that are unusually 
significant for documenting major violations of criminal law or ethical 
standards by agency officials or others.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    DHS/FEMA safeguards records in this system in accordance with 
applicable rules and policies, including all applicable DHS systems 
security and access policies. DHS/FEMA imposes strict controls to 
minimize the risk of compromising the information that is being stored. 
Access to the computer system containing the records in this system is 
limited to those who have a need to know the information for the 
performance of their official duties and who have appropriate 
clearances or permissions.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    The Secretary of Homeland Security has exempted this system from 
the notification, access, and amendment procedures of the Privacy Act 
because it is a law enforcement system. However, DHS/FEMA will consider 
individual requests to determine whether information may be released. 
Thus, individuals seeking access to and notification of any record 
contained in this system of records, or seeking to contest its content, 
may submit a request in writing to the Chief Privacy Officer and FEMA's 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer whose contact information can 
be found at http://www.dhs.gov/foia under ``Contact Information.'' If 
an individual believes more than one component maintains Privacy Act 
records concerning them, the individual may submit the request to the 
Chief Privacy Officer and Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer, 
Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528-0655, or 
electronically at https://www.dhs.gov/dhs-foia-privacy-act-request-submission-form. Even if neither the Privacy Act nor the Judicial 
Redress Act provide a right of access, certain records about you may be 
available under the Freedom of Information Act.
    When an individual is seeking records about themself from this 
system of records or any other Departmental system of records, the 
individual's request must conform with the Privacy Act regulations set 
forth in 6 CFR part 5. The individual must first verify their identity, 
meaning that the individual must provide their full name, current 
address, and date and place of birth. The individual must sign the 
request, and the individual's 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. An 
individual may obtain more information about this process at http://www.dhs.gov/foia. In addition, the individual should:
     Explain why they believe the Department would have 
information being requested;
     Identify which component(s) of the Department they believe 
may have the information;
     Specify when the individual believes the records would 
have been created; and
     Provide any other information that will help the DHS staff 
determine which DHS component agency may have responsive records.
    If the request is seeking records pertaining to another living 
individual, the request must include an authorization from the 
individual whose record is being requested, authorizing the release to 
the requester.
    Without the above information, the component(s) may not be able to 
conduct an effective search, and the individual's request may be denied 
due to lack of specificity or lack of compliance with applicable 
regulations.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    For records covered by the Privacy Act or covered Judicial Redress 
Act (JRA) records, individuals may make a request for amendment or 
correction of a Department record about the individual by writing 
directly to the Department component that maintains the record, unless 
the record is not subject to amendment or correction. The request 
should identify each particular record in question, state the amendment 
or correction desired, and state why the individual believes that the 
record is not accurate, relevant, timely, or complete. The individual 
may submit any documentation that would be helpful. If the individual 
believes that the same record is in more than one system of records, 
the request should state that and be addressed to each component that 
maintains a system of records containing the record. When an individual 
is making a request for amendment or correction of Departmental records 
about themself from this system of records or any other Departmental 
system of records, the individual's request must conform with the 
Privacy Act regulations set forth in 6 CFR part 5.

NOTIFICATION PROCUEDURES:
    See ``Record Access Procedures'' above.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    The Secretary of Homeland Security, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(2), has exempted this system from the following provisions of 
the Privacy Act, subject to the limitation set forth in 5 U.S.C. 
552a(c)(3); (d); (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (e)(4)(H), (e)(4)(I); and (f).

HISTORY:
    79 FR 40124 (July 11, 2014).
* * * * *

Mason C. Clutter,
Acting Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2023-06745 Filed 3-30-23; 8:45 am]
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