Purpose(s):

The purpose of this system is to increase the effectiveness of the U.S. immigration system in identifying threats to national security, combating benefit fraud, and locating and removing vulnerabilities that compromise the integrity of the legal immigration system.
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) as follows:

A. To the Department of Justice (including U.S. Attorneys' offices) 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 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. Sec. Sec. 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. USCIS suspects or has confirmed that the security or confidentiality of information in the system of records has been compromised;

2. USCIS 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 that relies upon the compromised information; and

3. The disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to assist in connection with USCIS'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.

H. To Federal and foreign government intelligence or counterterrorism agencies when USCIS reasonably believes there to be a threat or potential threat to national or international security for which the information may be useful in countering the threat or potential threat, when DHS reasonably believes such use is to assist in antiterrorism efforts, and disclosure is appropriate to the proper performance of the official duties of the person making the disclosure;

I. To the Department of State in the processing of petitions or applications for benefits under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and all other immigration and nationality laws including treaties and reciprocal agreements.

J. 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 or 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.
Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:

None.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system:

Storage:

Records in this system are stored electronically or on paper in secure facilities in a locked drawer behind a locked door. The records are stored on magnetic disks that are backed up to disk and tape media. Retrievability:

Records may be retrieved by utilizing multiple data points that include an individual's last name, ANumber, Receipt Number, Date of Birth or other unique identifier.
[[Page 48234]]

Safeguards:

Records in this system are safeguarded in accordance with applicable rules and policies, including all applicable DHS automated systems security and access policies. Strict controls have been imposed 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 individuals who have a need to know the information for the performance of their official duties and who have appropriate clearances or permissions. The system maintains a realtime auditing function of individuals who access the system. Additional safeguards may vary by component and program.

Retention and disposal:

The National Archives Records Administration has not approved a retention schedule for this system of records. USCIS has proposed a retention period of 15 years from the date of the last interaction between FDNS personnel and the individual after which time the record will be deleted from FDNSDS. The 15year retention schedule is proposed to provide FDNS with access to information that is critical to the investigation of suspected or confirmed fraud, criminal activity, egregious public safety, and/or national security concerns. Upon closure of a case, any information that is needed to make an adjudicative decision (such as a statement of findings report), whether there was or was not an indication of fraud, criminal activity, egregious public safety, and/or national security concerns, will be transferred to the AFile and maintained under the AFile retention period, which is currently 75 years.

System manager and address:

Chief Information Officer, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20529.

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 the component's FOIA Officer, whose contact information can be found at http://www.dhs.gov/foia under ``contacts.'' If an individual believes more than one component maintains Privacy Act records concerning him or her the individual may submit the request to the Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 245 Murray Drive, SW., Building 410, STOP0550, Washington, DC 20528.

When seeking records about yourself from this system of records or any other Departmental 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 to you under 28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to be made under penalty or perjury as a substitute for notarization. While no specific form is required, you may obtain forms for this purpose from the Director, Disclosure and FOIA, http://www.dhs.gov or 1866431 0486. In addition you should provide the following:

Without this bulleted information the component(s) will 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:

Parties who file USCIS applications supply the basic information contained in this system. Other information comes from petitions, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, public institutions, interviews of witnesses, public records, sworn statements, official reports, commercial data aggregators, and from members of the general public. Exemptions claimed for the system:

The Secretary of Homeland Security has exempted this system from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3); (d); (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (e)(4)(H), (e)(4)(I), and (f) pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2). These exemptions apply only to the extent that records in the system are subject to exemption pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2).

Dated: August 11, 2008.
Hugo Teufel III,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. E819032 Filed 81508; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 441010P

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT For general questions please contact: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Privacy Officer, Donald Hawkins, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20529. For privacy issues please contact: Hugo Teufel III (7032350780), Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.