[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85952-85954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25034]



[[Page 85952]]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID: DoD-2024-OS-0111]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Office of the 
Secretary is establishing a new system of records titled, ``Catch a 
Serial Offender (CATCH) Program Records,'' DoD-0024. This system of 
records covers DoD's maintenance of records used to collect and compare 
adult sexual assault reports for the purpose of identifying alleged 
serial sexual assault offenders. Additionally, DoD is issuing a notice 
of proposed rulemaking, which proposes to exempt this system of records 
from certain provisions of the Privacy Act, elsewhere in this issue of 
the Federal Register.

DATES: This system of records is effective upon publication; however, 
comments on the Routine Uses will be accepted on or before November 29, 
2024. The Routine Uses listed in this document are effective at the 
close of the comment period.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and 
title, by any of the following methods:
    * Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments.
    * Mail: Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant to the 
Secretary of Defense for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency, 
Regulatory Directorate, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Attn: Mailbox 24, Suite 
05F16, Alexandria, VA 22350-1700.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this Federal Register document. The general 
policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is 
to make these submissions available for public viewing on the internet 
at https://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, 
including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Rahwa Keleta, Privacy and Civil 
Liberties Directorate, Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of 
Defense for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency, Department of 
Defense, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Mailbox #24, Suite 05F16, Alexandria, 
VA 22350-1700; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dc938f98f2988c9f9088989cb1bdb5b0f2b1b5b0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="236c70670d6773606f7767634e424a4f0d4e4a4f">[email protected]</span></a>; (703) 256-1408.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 543 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon 
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 
(Pub. L. 113-291) required the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan 
that would allow a restricted reporting adult victim of sexual assault 
to disclose suspect or incident information for the purpose of 
identifying serial offenders. In response to this requirement, the 
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) developed a database to 
catalogue and centralize all victim entries into the CATCH program. The 
eligibility for the CATCH was later extended beyond just Restricted 
Reporters. The details in submitted CATCH entries are compared against 
reported subjects in adult sexual assault investigations and other 
CATCH Program entries. The sexual assault investigation records used 
for comparison include investigative reports prepared by DoD law 
enforcement, or other Federal, State, local, Tribal, or foreign law 
enforcement or investigative bodies, if such records exist. Entries in 
the CATCH system will consist of information voluntarily submitted into 
the CATCH system by eligible victims without identifying such victims, 
through established CATCH processes. At the present time, the CATCH 
Program gives adult sexual assault victims who filed (1) Restricted 
Reports, (2) certain Unrestricted Reports where the name of the suspect 
is not reported to or uncovered by law enforcement, or (3) no official 
report with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program, 
an opportunity to submit suspect information (without identifying the 
victim) into the CATCH system after receiving a user name and password 
from a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) or Family Advocacy 
Program (FAP) representative. There is no self-service feature for 
CATCH entries; victims must go through a SARC or FAP representative, so 
they are apprised of their victim's rights and the CATCH Program is 
fully explained. The Military Criminal Investigative Organizations 
(MCIOs) specially assigned to CATCH Headquarters, not at the victim's 
installation, analyze suspect information in victim entries submitted 
into the CATCH Program. If a match is identified, the investigators 
will notify SAPR or FAP personnel of the match; the CATCH system 
protects the identity of the victim by not maintaining information that 
identifies the victim. The victim's contact information is stored in a 
separate database, the Defense Sexual Assault Incident Database (DSAID) 
File Locker or FAP case management system, which is only accessible to 
certain SAPR and FAP personnel, not MCIOs. Moreover, section 550 of 
Public Law 116-92 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2020) contained additional protections specifically for Restricted 
Reporters to safeguard the restricted nature of their reports, 
notwithstanding a victim disclosure made pursuant to the CATCH program. 
More information about the CATCH Program may be found at the U.S. 
Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response 
Organization website at https://www.sapr.mil/catch. Additionally, DoD 
is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to exempt this system of 
records from certain provisions of the Privacy Act elsewhere in this 
issue of the Federal Register. DoD system of records notices (SORNs) 
have been published in the Federal Register and are available from the 
address in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or on the Privacy and Civil 
Liberties Directorate website at https://dpcld.defense.gov.

II. Privacy Act

    Under the Privacy Act, a ``system of records'' is a group of 
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. In 
the Privacy Act, an individual is defined as a U.S. citizen or lawful 
permanent resident.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) and Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-108, DoD has provided a report of this 
system of records to the OMB and to Congress.

    Dated: October 23, 2024.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    Catch a Serial Offender (CATCH) Program Records, DoD-0024.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Department of Defense (Department or DoD), located at 1000 Defense 
Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000, and other Department 
installations, offices, or mission locations. Information may also be 
stored within a government-certified

[[Page 85953]]

cloud, implemented and overseen by the Department's Chief Information 
Officer (CIO), 6000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-6000.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Director, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), 27130 
Telegraph Road, Quantico, VA 22134-2253, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6e2d2f3a2d262e202d273d40202f383740232722"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9cdfddc8dfd4dcd2dfd5cfb2d2ddcac5b2d1d5d0">[email protected]</span></a>.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    10 U.S.C. 932, Art. 132 Retaliation; 10 U.S.C. 136, Under Secretary 
of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; 10 U.S.C. 1044e, Special 
Victim's Counsel For Victims Sex-Related Offenses; 10 U.S.C. 1561, 
Complaints of Sexual Harassment: Investigation by Commanding Officers; 
10 U.S.C. 1565b, Victims Of Sexual Assault: Access To Legal Assistance 
and Services of Sexual Assault Response Coordinators and Sexual Assault 
Victim Advocates; section 543 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck' 
McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Pub. L. 
113-291) DoD Instruction 5505.18, Investigation of Adult Sexual Assault 
in the Department of Defense; DoD Directive 6495.01, ``Sexual Assault 
Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program; section 550 of Public Law 116-
92 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020); and E.O. 
9397 (Social Security number), as amended.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The system will collect adult sexual assault victims' CATCH entries 
about alleged perpetrators, without identifying victims, for the 
purpose of comparison against other CATCH entries and against law 
enforcement investigative records of adult sexual assaults to identify 
serial sexual assault offenders. Pursuant to section 550 of Public Law 
116-92 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020), a 
victim's disclosure made pursuant to the CATCH program will not operate 
to terminate a restricted report's status as restricted. Unless a 
victim expressly decides to participate in an investigation after being 
notified of a match, the information in a victim's entry in the CATCH 
system will not be used to initiate an investigation, regardless of the 
type of victim report (Restricted Reporters, certain Unrestricted 
Reporters, and victims who filed no report of sexual assault.)

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Individuals named as alleged sexual assault perpetrators by victims 
eligible to provide information for the CATCH program (``eligible 
victims''). Such alleged perpetrators include current, former, and 
retired Active Duty and Reserve military personnel, DoD civilian 
personnel, contractors, and members of the public accused of sexual 
assault by an eligible victim.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Records in this system include:
    A. Personal Information about individuals named as alleged 
perpetrators in sexual assault incidents by eligible victims, such as: 
name and aliases, Social Security number (SSN), date of birth, 
physical, mailing, and email addresses, phone numbers, place of birth, 
race/ethnicity, biometric data including photographs, vehicle 
information, marital status, gender/gender identification, other 
biographical data, and other information about alleged perpetrators 
provided by eligible victims.
    B. Employment Information such as: position/title, rank/grade, duty 
station, branch of service, work address, and email address.
    C. Case numbers of other investigations associated with alleged 
perpetrators for purposes of reference.
    D. Information about alleged perpetrators obtained by MCIOs from 
other sources (such as DoD databases; other Federal, State, local, 
Tribal, or foreign law enforcement databases; or open-source databases) 
for purposes of validating or confirming information about alleged 
perpetrators provided by eligible victims or further identifying such 
alleged perpetrators.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Records and information stored in this system of records are 
obtained from: the victim, DoD systems of records/databases maintaining 
personnel information, investigative reports, public records and other 
publicly available sources, commercial data aggregators, subjects of 
investigation, witnesses, and law enforcement entities.

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 of 1974, as amended, all or a portion of the 
records or information contained herein may specifically be disclosed 
outside the DoD as a Routine Use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as 
follows:
    A. To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, students, and 
others performing or working on a contract, service, grant, cooperative 
agreement, or other assignment for the Federal Government when 
necessary to accomplish an agency function related to this system of 
records.
    B. To the appropriate Federal, State, local, territorial, Tribal, 
foreign, or international law enforcement authority or other 
appropriate entity where a record, either alone or in conjunction with 
other information, indicates a violation or potential violation of law, 
whether criminal, civil, or regulatory in nature.
    C. To any component of the Department of Justice for the purpose of 
representing the DoD, or its components, officers, employees, or 
members in pending or potential litigation to which the record is 
pertinent.
    D. In an appropriate proceeding before a court, grand jury, or 
administrative or adjudicative body or official, when the DoD or other 
Agency representing the DoD determines that the records are relevant 
and necessary to the proceeding; or in an appropriate proceeding before 
an administrative or adjudicative body when the adjudicator determines 
the records to be relevant to the proceeding.
    E. To the National Archives and Records Administration for the 
purpose of records management inspections conducted under the authority 
of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    * Note 1. Given the sensitive nature of records in this system, 
appropriate discretion and care must be exercised in the extent of 
disclosure of information under this routine use.
    F. To a Member of Congress or staff acting upon the Member's behalf 
when the Member or staff requests the information on behalf of, and at 
the request of, the individual who is the subject of the record.
    * Note 2. Given the sensitive nature of records in this system, 
appropriate discretion and care must be exercised in the extent of 
disclosure of information under this routine use.
    G. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) the DoD 
suspects or confirms a breach of the system of records; (2) the DoD 
determines as a result of the suspected or confirmed breach there is a 
risk of harm to individuals, the DoD (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 the DoD's 
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed breach or to prevent, 
minimize, or remedy such harm.
    H. To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when the DoD 
determines that information from this system of records is reasonably 
necessary to assist the recipient agency

[[Page 85954]]

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.
    I. To another Federal, State, or local agency for the purpose of 
comparing to the agency's system of records or to non-Federal records, 
in coordination with an Office of Inspector General in conducting an 
audit, investigation, inspection, evaluation, or some other review as 
authorized by the Inspector General Act of 1987, as amended.
    J. To such recipients and under such circumstances and procedures 
as are mandated by Federal statute or treaty.
    K. When an originating record is maintained by the U.S. Department 
of Defense, records may be disclosed, as authorized, to the U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security, including the U.S. Coast Guard, for 
purposes of investigation, verification, or notification by the CATCH 
investigative program when a reported sexual assault incident allegedly 
involves a current or former Service member of, or civilian employed by 
or affiliated with the U.S. Coast Guard.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Records may be stored electronically or on paper in secure 
facilities in a locked drawer behind a locked door. Electronic records 
may be stored locally on digital media; in agency-owned cloud 
environments; or in vendor Cloud Service Offerings certified under the 
Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Records about alleged perpetrators may be retrieved by a unique 
victim reference number (VRN) maintained in the CATCH system apart from 
any other identifying victim information or by Defense Sexual Assault 
Incident Database (DSAID) control number maintained in the CATCH system 
apart from any other identifying victim information. The CATCH entries 
do not identify the victim and CATCH system information may not be 
aggregated to identify a victim. Victim identity and victim contact 
information is found in DSAID, a separate system maintained and 
operated by the DoD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    CATCH Program records are maintained in this system for a period of 
10 years and destroyed.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    DoD safeguards records in this system of records according to 
applicable rules, policies, and procedures, including all applicable 
DoD automated systems security and access policies. DoD policies 
require the use of controls to minimize the risk of compromise of 
personally identifiable information (PII) in paper and electronic form 
and to enforce access by those with a need to know and with appropriate 
clearances. Additionally, DoD has established security audit and 
accountability policies and procedures which support the safeguarding 
of PII and detection of potential PII incidents. DoD routinely employs 
safeguards such as the following to information systems and paper 
recordkeeping systems: Multifactor log-in authentication including 
Common Access Card (CAC) authentication and password; physical token as 
required; physical and technological access controls governing access 
to data; network encryption to protect data transmitted over the 
network; disk encryption securing disks storing data; key management 
services to safeguard encryption keys; masking of sensitive data as 
practicable; mandatory information assurance and privacy training for 
individuals who will have access; identification, marking, and 
safeguarding of PII; physical access safeguards including multifactor 
identification physical access controls, detection and electronic alert 
systems for access to servers and other network infrastructure; and 
electronic intrusion detection systems in DoD facilities.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking access to their records may follow the 
procedures in 32 CFR part 310. Individuals may address written 
inquiries to the DoD component with oversight of the records, as the 
component has Privacy Act responsibilities concerning access, 
amendment, and disclosure of the records within this system of records. 
The public may identify the contact information for the appropriate DoD 
office through the following website: www.FOIA.gov. Signed written 
requests should contain the name and number of this system of records 
notice along with the full name, current address, and email address of 
the individual. In addition, the requester must provide either a 
notarized statement or an unsworn declaration made in accordance with 
28 U.S.C. 1746, in the appropriate format:
    If executed outside the United States: ``I declare (or certify, 
verify, or state) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United 
States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on 
(date). (Signature).''
    If executed within the United States, its territories, possessions, 
or commonwealths: ``I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under 
penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on 
(date). (Signature).''
    Requesters should be aware that DoD has claimed an exemption from 
first-party access pursuant to (j)(2) of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 
552a(j)(2) and that Congress has provided for an exemption from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act pursuant to section 550 
of Public Law 116-92 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2020).

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking to amend or correct the content of records 
about them should follow the procedures in 32 CFR part 310.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking to determine whether information about 
themselves is contained in this system of records should follow the 
instructions for Record Access Procedures above.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    The DoD has exempted records maintained in this system from 5 
U.S.C. 552a(c)(3) and (4); (d)(1), (2), (3), and (4); (e)(1), (2), (3), 
(4)(G), (H), and (I), (5), and (8); (f), and (g) of the Privacy Act, 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2), as applicable. An exemption rule for 
this system has been promulgated in accordance with the requirements of 
5 U.S.C. 553(b)(1), (2), and (3), and (c), and published in 32 CFR part 
310. In addition, when exempt records received from other systems of 
records become part of this system, the DoD also claims the same 
exemptions for those records that are claimed for the prior system(s) 
of records from which they are a part and claims any additional 
exemptions set forth here.

HISTORY:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2024-25034 Filed 10-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6001-FR-P


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