28 C.F.R. Subpart C—Privacy Act
Title 28 - Judicial Administration
The regulations in this subpart apply to all records which are contained in a system of records maintained by the Agency and which are retrieved by an individual's name or personal identifier. This subpart implements the Privacy Act by establishing Agency policy and procedures providing for the maintenance of and guaranteed access to records. Under these procedures: (a) You can ask us whether we maintain records about you or obtain access to your records; and (b) You may seek to have your record corrected or amended if you believe that your record is not accurate, timely, complete, or relevant. As used in this subpart, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (a) Agency has the meaning as defined in 5 U.S.C. 552(e). (b) Individual means a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. (c) Maintain includes maintain, collect, use, or disseminate. (d) Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by the Agency. This includes, but is not limited to, the individual's education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and that contains the name, or an identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint or a photograph. (e) System of records means a group of any records under the control of the Agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual. (f) Statistical record means a record in a system of records maintained for statistical research or reporting purposes only and not used in whole or part in making any determination about an identifiable individual, except as provided by 13 U.S.C. 8. (g) Routine use means the disclosure of a record that is compatible with the purpose for which the record was collected. (h) Request for access means a request made pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(1). (i) Request for amendment means a request made pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(2). (j) Request for accounting means a request made pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3). (a) Requests for your own records. When you make a request for access to records about yourself, you must verify your identity. You must state 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 by you under 28 U.S.C. 1746. In order to help the identification and location of requested records, you may also, at your option, include your social security number. (b) Requests on behalf of another. Information that concerns an individual and that is contained in a system of records maintained by the Agency shall not be disclosed to any person, or to another agency, except under the provisions of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, or the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. (c) Disclosure criteria. Staff may disclose information from an agency system of records only if one or more of the following criteria apply: (1) With the written consent of the individual to whom the record pertains. (2) Pursuant to a specific exception listed under the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)). For example, specific exceptions allow disclosure: (i) To employees within the Agency who have a need for the record in the performance of their duties. (ii) If disclosure is required under FOIA when the public interest in disclosure of the information outweighs the privacy interest involved. (iii) For a routine use described in the agency system of records as published in the (A) The published notices for these systems describe the records contained in each system and the routine uses for disclosing these records without first obtaining the consent of the person to whom the records pertain. (B) CSOSA publishes notices of system of records, including all pertinent routine uses, in the (a) Submission and processing procedures. (1) Requests for any agency record about yourself ordinarily will be processed pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a. Such a request must be made in writing and addressed to the FOIA Officer, Office of the General Counsel, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004. The requester should clearly mark on the face of the letter and the envelope “Privacy Act Request.” (2) Your request will be considered received as of the date it is received by the Office of the General Counsel. For quickest possible handling, you should mark both your request letter and the envelope “Privacy Act Request.” (3) You must describe the records that you seek in enough detail to enable Agency personnel to locate them with a reasonable amount of effort. Whenever possible, your request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipient and subject matter of the record. As a general rule, the more specific you are about the records or type of records that you want, the more likely the Agency will be able to locate the records in response to your request. If a determination is made that your request does not reasonably describe records, the Agency will tell you either what additional information is needed or why your request is otherwise insufficient. You will be given the opportunity to discuss your request so that you may modify it to meet the requirements of this section. (b) Release and review procedures. Upon written request by an individual to gain access to his or her records which are not otherwise exempted, CSOSA shall permit the individual and, upon the individual's request, a person of his or her choosing to accompany him or her, to review the record and have a copy of all or any portion of the record. If a document contains information exempt from disclosure under the Privacy Act, any reasonably segregable portion of the record will be provided to the requester after deletion of the exempt portions. (2) A requester will be notified of the decision on the request in writing. (3) Generally, all Privacy Act requests will be processed in the approximate order of receipt, unless the requester shows exceptional circumstances exist to justify an expedited response (see §802.8). (a) Denial in whole or in part. If it is determined that the request for records should be denied in whole or in part, the requester shall be notified by mail. The letter of notification shall: (1) State the PA and FOIA exemptions relied on in not granting the request; (2) If technically feasible, indicate the amount of information deleted at the place in the record where such deletion is made (unless providing such indication would harm an interest protected by the exemption relied upon to deny such material); (3) Set forth the name and title or position of the responsible official; (4) Advise the requester of the right to an administrative appeal in accordance with §802.16; and (5) Specify the official or office to which such appeal shall be submitted. (b) No records found. If it is determined, after a thorough search for records by the responsible official or his delegate, that no records have been found to exist, the responsible official will so notify the requester in writing. The letter of notification will advise the requester of the right to administratively appeal the determination that no records exist (i.e., to challenge the adequacy of the search for responsive records) in accordance with §802.16. The notification shall specify the official or office to which the appeal shall be submitted for review. (a) A requester may appeal an Agency initial determination when: (1) Access to records has been denied in whole or in part; or (2) It has been determined that no responsive records exist. (b) Appeals of initial determinations must be made within 30 days of the receipt of the letter denying the request. Both the envelope and the letter of appeal should be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW., Room 1220, Washington, DC 20004 and must be clearly marked “Privacy Act Appeal.” (c) The General Counsel will make an appeal determination within 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) from the date of receipt of the appeal. However, for a good reason, this time limit may be extended. If, after review, the General Counsel determines that additional information should be released, it will accompany the appeal response. If, after review, the General Counsel determines to uphold the initial review, we will inform you of that decision. (a)(1) Documents from or pertaining to Federal agencies. When a request for records includes a document from another Federal agency, the document will be referred to the originating Federal agency for a determination of its releasability. The requester will be informed of the referral. This is not a denial of a Privacy Act request; thus no appeal rights accrue to the requester. (2) When a Privacy Act request is received for a record created by the Agency that includes information originated by another Federal agency, the record will be referred to the originating agency for review and recommendation on disclosure. The Agency will not release any such record without prior consultation with the originating agency. (b) Documents from non-Federal agencies. When a request for records includes a document from a non-Federal agency, CSOSA staff must make a determination of its releasability. This section applies to all records kept by the Agency except for records of earnings. If you believe your record is not accurate, relevant, timely, or complete, you may request that your record be corrected or amended. A request for correction or amendment must identify the particular record in question, state the correction or amendment sought, and set forth the justification for the correction. To amend or correct your record, you should write to the Office of the General Counsel identified in §802.14(a)(1). You should submit any available evidence to support your request. Both the request and the envelope must be clearly marked “Privacy Act Correction Request.” Your request should indicate: (a) The system of records from which the record is retrieved; (b) The particular record which you want to correct or amend; (c) Whether you want to add, delete or substitute information in the records; and (d) Your reasons for believing that your record should be corrected or amended. (a) The system manager may grant or deny requests for correction of agency records. One basis for denial may be that the records are contained in an agency system of records that has been published in the (1) Any denial of a request for correction should contain a statement of the reason for denial and notice to the requester that the denial may be appealed to the General Counsel by filing a written appeal. (2) The appeal should be marked on the face of the letter and the envelope, “PRIVACY APPEAL—DENIAL OF CORRECTION,” and be addressed to the Office of the General Counsel, address cited at §802.14(a)(1). (3) The General Counsel will review your request within 30 days from the date of receipt. However, for a good reason, this time limit may be extended. If, after review, the General Counsel determines that the record should be corrected, the record will be corrected. If, after review, the General Counsel refuses to amend the record exactly as you requested, we will inform you: (i) That your request has been refused and the reason; (ii) That this refusal is the Agency's final decision; (iii) That you have a right to seek court review of this request to amend the record; and (iv) That you have a right to file a statement of disagreement with the decision. Your statement should include the reason you disagree. We will make your statement available to anyone to whom the record is subsequently disclosed, together with a statement of our reasons for refusing to amend the record. (b) Requests for correction of records prepared by other federal agencies shall be forwarded to that agency for appropriate action and the requester will be immediately notified of the referral in writing. (c) When the request is for correction of non-Federal records, the requester will be advised to write to that non-Federal entity. (a) We will provide an accounting of all disclosures of a record for five years or until the record is destroyed, whichever is longer, except that no accounting will be provided to the record subject for disclosures made to law enforcement agencies and no accounting will be made for: (1) Disclosures made under the FOIA; (2) Disclosures made within the agency; and (3) Disclosures of your record made with your written consent. (b) The accounting will include: (1) The date, nature, and purpose of the disclosure; and (2) The name and address of the person or entity to whom the disclosure is made. (c) You may request access to an accounting of disclosures of your record. Your request should be in accordance with the procedures in §802.14. You will be granted access to an accounting of the disclosures of your record in accordance with the procedures of this part which govern access to the related record, excepting disclosures made for an authorized civil or criminal law enforcement agency as provided by subsection (c)(3) of the Privacy Act. You will be required to provide reasonable identification. You may appeal a denial of a request for an accounting to the Office of the General Counsel in the same manner as a denial of a request for access to records (See §802.16) and the same procedures will be followed. The Agency shall charge fees under the Privacy Act for duplication of records only. These fees shall be at the same rate the Agency charges for duplication fees under the Freedom of Information Act (See §802.10(i)(1)). (a) In general. An individual shall not be denied any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual's refusal to disclose his or her social security number. (b) Exceptions. The provisions of paragraph (a) of this section do not apply with respect to: (1) Any disclosure which is required by Federal statute, or (2) The disclosure of a social security number to any Federal, State, or local agency maintaining a system of records in existence and operating before January 1, 1975, if such disclosure was required under statute or regulation adopted prior to such date to verify the identity of an individual. (c) Requests for disclosure of social security number. If the Agency requests an individual to disclose his or her social security account number, we shall inform that individual whether: (1) Disclosure is mandatory or voluntary. (2) By what statutory or other authority such number is solicited, and (3) What uses will be made of it.
Title 28: Judicial Administration
PART 802—DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS
Subpart C—Privacy Act
§ 802.11 Purpose and scope.
§ 802.12 Definitions.
§ 802.13 Verifying your identity.
§ 802.14 Requests for access to records.
§ 802.15 Denial of request.
§ 802.16 Administrative appeal.
§ 802.17 Documents from other agencies.
§ 802.18 Correction or amendment of records.
§ 802.19 Appeal of denial to correct or amend.
§ 802.20 Accounting of disclosures.
§ 802.21 Appeals.
§ 802.22 Fees.
§ 802.23 Use and disclosure of social security numbers.
