[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 184 (Friday, September 23, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55929-55932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-19023]


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PEACE CORPS


Privacy Act: System of Records

AGENCY: Peace Corps.

ACTION: Notice of adoption of new system of records.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 
U.S.C. 552a), the Peace Corps issued public notice of its proposal to 
adopt a new system of

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records, PC-28, titled Applications for Employment. This second 
publication reflects technical revisions to the new system of records 
based on internal Agency comments and gives notice of the Agency's 
adoption of the new system of records.

DATES: This New System of Records was effective on July 26, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Records Management Officer, Peace 
Corps Headquarters, 1111 20th St., NW., Washington, DC 20526.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, the 
Peace Corps issued public notice on June 16, 2005, of its proposal to 
adopt a new systems of records titled PC-28, Applications for 
Employment. The Agency did not receive any public comments. However, it 
did receive internal agency comments. This second publication reflects 
technical changes but does not include any substantive revisions. The 
publication also gives notice of the Agency's adoption of the new 
system of records.
Peace Corps (PC-28)

System name:
    Applications for Employment.

System location:
    Office of Management, Human Resources Management, 1111 20th Street 
NW., Washington DC 20526. Occasionally located on a temporary basis in 
domestic offices and overseas Posts. Electronic records are stored 
offsite by a contracted agent of the agency in a secure facility.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    All applicants for employment with the Peace Corps (including 
unsuccessful applicants).

Categories of records in the system:
    To the extent that an agency utilizes an automated medium in 
connection with maintenance of records in this system of records.
    Application forms, resumes and related correspondence. Position 
vacancy announcement information such as position title, series and 
grade level(s), office and duty location, opening and closing date of 
the announcement, and dates of referral and return of lists of 
qualified candidates; applicant personal data such as name, address, 
social security number, date of birth, sex, veterans' preference and 
federal competitive status; and applicant qualification and processing 
information such as qualifications, grade level eligibility, reason for 
ineligibility, referral status, and dates of notification.
    Related correspondence may include referral letters and memoranda 
relating to the application process; education and training related 
documentation; employment history and earnings; honors, awards or 
fellowships; military service; convictions or offenses against the law; 
names of relatives employed in the Federal service; qualification 
determinations; employment consideration; priority groupings; 
correspondence relating to the consideration of the individual for 
employment. These records may also include copies of correspondence 
(electronic and otherwise) between the applicant and the office or 
agency and other items provided by applicants but not specifically 
requested by the agency.
    The system also includes any Peace Corps employment application 
materials established for making appointments outside a register; or 
reassignments, promotions, reinstatements, or transfers of Federal 
employees into positions at Peace Corps.
    The records also contain information on the ranking of an 
applicant, his or her placement on a list of eligibles, what 
certificates/rosters applicant's names appeared on, requests for office 
approval of or opposition to an eligible's qualifications and the 
office's decision in the matter, an office's request for approval for 
the agency to pass over an eligible and the office's decision in the 
matter, and an agency's decision to object/pass over an eligible when 
the agency has authority to make such decisions. Reasons for when the 
objection/pass over decision applies to a compensable preference 
eligible with 30 percent or more disability. Records may also include: 
Agency applicant file systems where the agency retains applications, 
resumes, and other related records for hard-to-fill or unique positions 
for future consideration. Records and statements related to an 
applicant's involvement in intelligence related activities.

Authority for maintenance of system:
    The Peace Corps Act, 22 U.S.C. 2501, et seq., including 22 U.S.C. 
2506 and 22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq. (Foreign Service Act of 1980).

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    General routine uses A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K apply to 
this system.

Records may also be disclosed to:
    (a) Evaluate qualifications of potential candidates by the 
Director, Human Resource Management and his/her delegates, Executive 
Staff, Hiring Managers and their delegates, other supervisors and 
personnel security staff. These records also may be reviewed by staff 
with internal audit responsibilities. The records are available to 
personnel specialists who review the applicants' qualifications and 
consider them for appropriate agency vacancies;
    (b) Persons named as references, and present or former supervisors, 
for purposes of commenting upon, rating or verifying information about 
past performance submitted as part of job application;
    (c) Other Federal agencies, state governments, foreign governments 
and international organizations where employees are being considered 
for detail, assignment or secondment;
    (d) Attorneys, union representatives or other persons designated by 
employees in writing to represent them in complaints, grievances, 
appeals, litigation cases, or administrative processes;
    (e) The Department of Labor, Department of Veterans Affairs, Social 
Security Administration, Department of Defense, or any other Federal 
agency that has special civilian employee retirement and disability 
programs; or to a national, state, county, municipal, or other publicly 
recognized charitable or income security, administration agency (e.g., 
State unemployment compensation agencies), when necessary to adjudicate 
a claim under the retirement, insurance, unemployment or health 
benefits programs of the agency or an agency cited above, or to an 
agency to conduct an analytical study or audit of benefits being paid 
or to be paid under such programs;
    (f) Offices within Peace Corps with an official need to know;
    (g) Other persons, entities, or organizations, as specified in the 
Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(1)-(b)(12).

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    The records are stored by electronic means and hard copy. Records 
are maintained on data storage devices, lists, forms and hard copy 
record files. Electronic records are maintained within Peace Corps on 
proprietary systems or within an automated application system on data 
storage devices. Information contained in the automated system is 
housed offsite in a secure location as government owned and retrievable 
information.

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Retrieval:
    The records may be retrieved by the names of the individuals on 
whom they are maintained or by vacancy announcement number. In the 
Personnel Office, the records are recorded by name and vacancy 
announcement number. They can also be retrieved, by any common 
identifier in the automated application. These may be by individual 
name, social security number, vacancy announcement, demographic fields, 
veteran's status, current grade, grade applied for, or any other data 
fields completed by the applicant. Records are generally retrieved by 
the name with the social security number or date of birth as a 
secondary identifier when necessary.

Accessibility/Safeguards:
    All Peace Corps employees have undergone background investigations. 
Access to the Agency is controlled by security guards and admission is 
limited to those individuals possessing a valid identification card or 
individuals under proper escort. The Human Resource Management (HRM) 
office is in a secondary secured area where even Peace Corps employees 
not within the HRM organization are required to have escorts. All 
records containing personal information are maintained in secured file 
cabinets or in restricted areas, access to which is limited to 
authorized personnel. Access to computerized files is password-
protected and under the direct supervision of the system manager. The 
system manager and contractor have the capability of printing audit 
trails of access through the computer media, thereby permitting regular 
and ad hoc monitoring of system usage. Automated media is access 
limited to authorized personnel whose duties require access. Access to 
and use of these records are limited to those persons whose official 
duties require such access. Systems administered by contractors are 
secured by password and through a permissions based system. Permission 
is granted by a system administrator. Remote data storage facilities 
are secured through physical and system-based safeguards. Electronic 
files are password protected and accessible only by authorized 
personnel. Data maintained electronically at Peace Corps is on network 
servers and located in a locked room with physical access limited to 
authorized personnel.

Retention and disposal:
    Applications from individuals who are selected for positions with 
the Peace Corps are placed on the permanent side of the employee's 
Official Personnel Folder. Paper applications rejected in the initial 
review because they do not meet requirements for Agency employment and 
applications which appear to meet requirements for Agency employment, 
but which are subsequently rejected, are retained for two years and 
then destroyed. Electronic media files are maintained indefinitely. 
These files remain available for the Agency when searching for 
qualified applicants for the variety of positions available agency-
wide. Paper files on applicants may also be retained indefinitely. In 
divisional or regional offices, the paper records may be retained for 
an indefinite period of time. They are then forwarded to HRM or 
discarded. Applicant records, whether electronic media or hard copy 
will be maintained until they become inactive at which time they will 
be retired or destroyed in accordance with published records schedules 
of the Peace Corps or as approved by the National Archives and Records 
Administration. Most records are retained for a period of 2 years. Some 
records are destroyed by shredding or burning while magnetic tapes or 
disks are erased.

System manager(s) and address:
    Director, Human Resources Management OR Records Management Officer 
Peace Corps Headquarters, 1111 20th St., NW., Washington, DC 20526.

Notification procedures:
    Any individual who wants to known whether this system of records 
contains a record about him or her, who wants access to his or her 
record, or who wants to contest the contents of a record, should make a 
written request to the System Manager. Request should be accepted for 
processing if they contain sufficient information to convince the 
System Manager that the requester is the subject of the records, 
including identifying information needed to locate your record and a 
brief description of the item or items of information required. 
Requesters will be required to provide adequate information, such as a 
driver's license, employment identification card, passport, or other 
identifying documents. Requests for correction or amendment must 
identify the record to be changed and the corrective action sought. 
Complete Peace Corps Privacy Act procedures are set out in 22 CFR part 
308.

Record access procedures:
    Requests from individuals should be addressed as indicated in the 
notification section above. Individuals who wish to amend records 
pertaining to themselves should also address their requests as 
described in the Notification section above.

Contesting record procedures:
    Individuals wishing to contest or amend information maintained in 
this system should specify the information being contested, the reasons 
for contesting it, and the proposed amendment to such information. 
Individuals have the right to request that we amend a record pertaining 
to them when it is believed to be inaccurate, or lacks relevance, 
timeliness, or completeness. At the time we grant access to a record, 
we will furnish guidelines on how to make a request to amend a record.
    Requests for amendments to records must be in writing and mailed or 
delivered to the FOIA/Privacy Act Officer, FOIA/Privacy Act Office, 
Peace Corps Headquarters, 1111 20th St., NW., Washington, DC 20526, who 
will coordinate the review of the request to amend the record with the 
appropriate office(s). Such requests must contain, at a minimum, 
identifying information needed to locate the record, a brief 
description of the item or items of information to be amended, and the 
reason for the requested change. The requester should submit as much 
documentation, arguments or other data as seems warranted to support 
the request for amendment. We will review all requests for amendments 
to records within 20 working days of receipt of the request and either 
make the changes or inform you of our refusal to do so and the reasons.

Record source categories:
    These records are normally submitted by the individuals seeking 
employment. Some records could come from individuals or employment 
agencies sponsoring the applications. Information in this system of 
records is provided by:
    (a) The individual to whom the information pertains;
    (b) Peace Corps officials;
    (c) Other sources contacted to provide additional information about 
the individual. System exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy 
Act: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(4), records contained within this 
system that are required by statute to be maintained and used solely 
for statistical purposes are exempted from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), 
(e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H) and (I), and (f). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(5), certain records contained within this system contain 
confidential source information and are exempted from 5 U.S.C. 
552a(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H) and (I), and (f). Pursuant to 
552a(k)(6),

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records that contain testing or examination material the release of 
which may compromise testing or examination procedures are also 
exempted from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H), and 
(I), and (f).

    Dated: August 15, 2005.
Gilbert Smith
Associate Director for Management.
[FR Doc. 05-19023 Filed 9-22-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6501-01-M