[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 98 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28016-28018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13591]
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POSTAL SERVICE
Privacy Act of 1974, System of Records
AGENCY: Postal Service.
ACTION: Notice of new system of records.
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SUMMARY: The purpose of this document is to publish notice of a new
Privacy Act system of records, USPS 040.050, Customer Programs-Customer
Electronic Document Preparation and Delivery Service Records. The new
system contains information provided by customers who use the Postal
Service's electronic-to-paper document printing and mailing service.
Customers using this service electronically send a master document and
mailing list to a postal control center, which electronically routes
the documents to print sites for printing and mailing for Postal
Service delivery.
DATES: Any interested party may submit written comments on the proposed
new system of records. This proposal will become effective without
further notice on June 30, 1998, unless comments received on or before
that date result in a contrary determination.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on this proposal should be mailed or
delivered to: Payroll Accounting/Records, United States Postal Service,
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW Rm 8831, Washington, DC 20260-5243.
Copies of all written comments will be available at the above
address for public inspection and photocopying between 8 a.m. and 4:45
p.m., Monday through Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betty Sheriff, (202) 268-2608.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed system of records will collect
information related to a new electronic-to-paper mailing and delivery
service offered by the Postal Service. The service will facilitate
increased use of the mail while providing a means for small-volume
customers to have quality mailings promptly prepared and delivered.
Customers who use the service will create documents on their
desktop computers and, using a postal icon on their computer screen,
transmit that document and an associated address file through the
Internet to a network
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control center. The network control center electronically routes the
digital documents to commercial print sites where they are printed,
assembled, and entered into the mailstream for Postal Service delivery,
often on the next day.
Before transmission to a print site, addresses on the list will be
standardized and updated with any forwarding information that has been
provided by customers. The product is a complete, correct, and
standardized address that can be read by automation equipment and
matched to a ZIP Code resulting in savings to the Postal Service
through more effective operations and savings to the customer who has
avoided duplication and remailings. Address correction is limited to
notification to the customer of any addresses that are invalid and the
Postal Service will not otherwise supplement or verify name or address
information on the list. In providing these services, the Postal
Service does not compile or disclose any mailing list.
The original list submitted by the customer will not be copied and
may be returned to the customer after conversion. One copy of the
converted list will be maintained under secured conditions for a period
of 30 days to confirm quality handling of the order and to serve the
customer who wishes to make a follow-up mailing using the same document
and/or list. The list will be retained longer than 30 days or updated
only at the customer's request.
System design provides for maintenance of information by the name
of the customer requesting the service and not by the names of persons
or entities on that customer's mailing list. The customers requesting
the service will be primarily small businesses to which the Privacy Act
will not apply. Nevertheless, to the extent records are covered by the
Privacy Act, measures have been taken to protect them. The measures,
discussed below, are intended also to ensure compliance with the Postal
Reorganization Act (39 U.S.C. 412), which prohibits the Postal Service
from releasing lists of the names or addresses of its customers or
other persons.
Printing and mailing will be performed by commercial printers
operating under a license agreement with the Postal Service. These
licensees will not be maintaining records and, consequently, not
operating a system of records. Nevertheless, because of the sensitive
nature of the information, under the terms of a license agreement, the
licensees must agree that any information received from the Postal
Service in the course of the agreement must be kept in strict
confidence and not disclosed to any person; must not be used by the
licensee for any purpose other than to satisfy the conditions of the
agreement; and must be provided with safeguards to prevent unauthorized
access, disclosure, or misuse. Licensee sites will be subject to
impromptu compliance inspections by the Postal Inspection Service.
Rather than apply all of its general routine uses (authorized third
party disclosures) considered applicable to most Postal Service systems
of records, the Postal Service has limited the application of routine
uses to four situations. The first allows disclosure to the Department
of Justice relative to litigation in which the Postal Service has an
interest. The second allows disclosure to a law enforcement agency for
criminal or civil law enforcement purposes. The third allows a
disclosure to a congressperson that would occur only at the prompting
of the records subject. The third allows disclosure to a contractor to
perform an agency function, a disclosure that will be necessary as
discussed above. Each of these is relevant and necessary to accomplish
the system's purpose.
The terms of agreements with customers who use this new service
will provide that the mailing lists transmitted to the Postal Service
will remain the property of the customer. Consequently, routine uses
within the proposed system will not apply to these lists.
Security controls have been applied to protect the information
during transmission and physical maintenance. The network control
center to which a customer transmits its order is housed in a Postal
Service computer complex with access to the building controlled by
guards, access to rooms controlled by the use of card keys, and access
to systems controlled by log on identifications and passwords. Industry
standard security and encryption technology will be used for Internet
transmission between the customer and the network control center.
Dedicated lines will be used for transmission between the network
control center and the licensee. As discussed above, the terms of the
license agreement will provide for the protection of information
received by the licensee who will be subject to audit by the Postal
Inspection Service.
For the above reasons, the Postal Service is establishing this
grouping of records as a system of records subject to the Privacy Act.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(11), interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, or arguments on this proposal. A report of
the following proposed system has been sent to Congress and to the
Office of Management and Budget for their evaluation.
USPS 040.050
SYSTEM NAME:
Customer Programs--Customer Electronic Document Preparation and
Delivery Records, USPS 040.050.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
Marketing, Headquarters; and Information Systems Service Center,
San Mateo, CA.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
Customers who electronically request mail preparation and delivery
service.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
Name and address of customer requesting service, USPS-assigned
order number, and billing information; address list provided by the
customer.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
39 U.S.C. 403, 404.
PURPOSE(S):
To promote increased use of the mail by providing electronic
document preparation and mailing services for customers.
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
Note: Mailing lists contained within this system are owned by
the customer submitting the mailing list; consequently, no routine
uses apply to these mailing lists.
1. Records from this system may be disclosed to the Department of
Justice or to other counsel representing the Postal Service, or may be
disclosed in a proceeding before a court or adjudicative body before
which the Postal Service is authorized to appear, when (a) the Postal
Service; or (b) any postal employee in his or her official capacity; or
(c) any postal employee in his or her individual capacity whom the
Department of Justice has agreed to represent; or (d) the United States
when it is determined that the Postal Service is likely to be affected
by the litigation, is a party to litigation or has an interest in such
litigation, and such records are determined by the Postal Service or
its counsel to be arguably relevant to the litigation, provided,
however, that in each case, the Postal Service determines that
disclosure of the records is a use of the information that is
compatible with the purpose for which it was collected. This routine
use specifically contemplates that information may be released in
response to relevant
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discovery and that any manner of response allowed by the rules of the
forum may be employed.
2. When the Postal Service becomes aware of an indication of a
violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal, or
regulatory in nature, and whether arising by general statute or
particular program statute, or by regulation, rule, or order issued
pursuant thereto, or in response to the appropriate agency's request on
a reasonable belief that a violation has occurred, the relevant records
may be referred to the appropriate agency, whether federal, state,
local, or foreign, charged with the responsibility of investigating or
prosecuting such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing
the statute, rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto.
3. Disclosure may be made to a congressional office from the record
of an individual in response to an inquiry from the congressional
office made at the prompting of that individual.
4. Records or information from this system may be disclosed to an
expert, consultant, or other person who is under contract to the Postal
Service to fulfill an agency function, but only to the extent necessary
to fulfill that function. This may include disclosure to any person
with whom the Postal Service contracts to reproduce, by typing,
photocopy, or other means, any record for use by Postal Service
officials in connection with their official duties or to any person who
performs clerical or stenographic functions relating to the official
business of the Postal Service.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING,
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
Name and address of customer will be automated during conversion
and then stored off-line on magnetic media.
RETRIEVABILITY:
Postal Service-assigned job number and customer name and customer
identification number.
SAFEGUARDS:
Access to these records is limited to those persons whose official
duties require such access. Access to automated records is restricted
by the use of encryption technology, dedicated lines, and authorized
access codes. Licensees who have access to information are required by
the terms of the license agreement to protect the information from
unauthorized access; to limit its use to that provided by the license
agreement; and to apply appropriate administrative and physical
safeguards to protect the information.
RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
Records supporting a customer order will be destroyed 30 days from
completion of order, unless maintained longer at customer's request.
Disposal will be by data deletion from magnetic media.
SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
Chief Marketing Officer & Senior Vice President, United States
Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plz SW, Washington DC 20260-2400.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
Individuals wanting to know whether information about them is
maintained in this system of records must address inquiries in writing
to the system manager. Inquiries must contain name, customer
identification number, address, and order number, if known.
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
Requests for access must be made in accordance with the
Notification Procedure above and the Postal Service Privacy Act
regulations regarding access to records and verification of identity
under 39 CFR 266.6.
CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
See Notification and Record Access Procedures above.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Information is furnished by record subjects (customers) requesting
the service.
Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
[FR Doc. 98-13591 Filed 5-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P