[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54847-54849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22144]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5130-N-30]


Privacy Act; Notification of New Privacy Act System of Records, 
Housing Counseling Research Data Files

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Establishment of a new Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD proposes 
to establish a new record system to add to its inventory of systems of 
records subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended. 
The proposed new system of record is the Housing Counseling Research 
Data Files. The records system will be used by HUD's Office of Policy 
Development and Research (PD&R) to conduct research and evaluation 
study of certain participants of HUD-funded Housing Counseling 
Agencies. Refer to the ``Objective'' caption to obtain detailed 
information about the purpose of this study.

DATES: Effective Date: This action shall be effective without further 
notice on October 23, 2008 unless comments are received that would 
result in a contrary determination.
    Comments Due Date: October 23, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20410. Communications should refer to the above 
docket number and title. A copy of each communication submitted will be 
available for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
weekdays at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Robinson-Staton, Departmental 
Privacy Act Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 
Seventh Street, SW., Room 4178, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 
(202) 402-8073. (This is not a toll-free number.) A telecommunication 
device for hearing- and speech-impaired individuals (TTY) is available 
at 1-800-877-8339 (Federal Information Relay Service).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 
U.S.C. 552a), as amended notice is given that HUD proposes to establish 
a new system of records as identified as Housing Counseling Data Files.
    Title 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11) provides that the public be 
afforded a 30-day period in which to comment on the new system of 
records, and requires published notice of the existence and character 
of the system of records.
    The new system report was submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and the 
House Committee on Government Reform pursuant to paragraph 4c of 
Appendix 1 to OMB Circular No. A-130, ``Federal Agency Responsibilities 
for Maintaining

[[Page 54848]]

Records About Individuals,'' July 25, 1994; 59 FR 37914.
    System Security Measures: The availability and data in Housing 
Counseling Data Files are important. Much of the data needs to be 
protected from unanticipated or unintentional modification. HUD 
restricts the use of the information to HUD's Abt Associates Inc. 
contractors' oversight responsibility, vulnerabilities and 
corresponding security measures to ensure data protection as follows: 
Each employee at IMPAQ has a unique identifier. There is no general 
company ID that can be used by multiple employees to log in to the 
system. It is a violation of IMPAQ security policy to share usernames 
and logins with anyone else. When an employee leaves IMPAQ, part of the 
exit checklist is to disable the employee's account, so that the 
employees can no longer log in and remote access privileges are also 
disabled. Access rights will be selectively granted, depending on 
duties and need-to-know. Full access rights to all data in the system 
will be granted to fewer than 5 users, primarily project managers at 
IMPAQ and Abt Associates. Limited access rights will be granted to all 
counselors. Counselors will only have the ability to review records 
pertaining to clients of their agency. No disks or tapes are involved 
in the system. The consent forms validating the applicant's 
participation in the study will be scanned into electronic files that 
will be encrypted and then provided to Abt Associates via a secure, 
password protected HTTPS site. The baseline questionnaires will be 
entered into a secure electronic database that is encrypted at the 
database level. Both the consent forms and baseline questionnaires will 
then be stored at a secure off-site facility for the duration of the 
project. All other data will be entered into the database by counselors 
via a secure Web site so that all data transmitted over the Internet 
are encrypted. Counselors will only able to access data under their 
jurisdiction; downloading of data is not permitted from the actual 
system. Counselors would access the system through the Internet via 
Internet Explorer Web browser. The system requires a username and 
password to gain access, and only authorized counselors or staff at 
each agency would be provided with a username and password. Backup is 
performed through an online vendor who backs up data on a frequent, 
regular basis in a manner such that the data are encrypted while in 
transmission over the Internet. No hard-copy printouts containing 
personal information are anticipated to be generated on a regular 
basis. If any are generated as a result of ad hoc report requests, they 
will be carefully handled and shredded as soon as they are no longer 
needed. If these reports are needed for more than 1 day, they will be 
kept locked in a locked filing cabinet or in other storage rooms at 
IMPAQ or at off-site storage vendors which are heavily secured. Besides 
physical security of data, IMPAQ has in place procedures for handling 
datasets with personal identifiers that are similar to FedEx tracking 
system in that personal signatures by members of the IT department or 
the research team on the project are required at all stages of data 
handling until the personal identifiers are stripped and replaced with 
unique identifiers that are of no use to a potential identity thief. 
All IMPAQ staff are trained in security procedures and policies. 
Multiple layers of security are built into the IMPAQ computing 
infrastructure to maximize security.
    Data Quality: Client participating in the study will be asked to 
complete a baseline questionnaire at the time they are enrolled in the 
study. Each counseling agency participating will be asked to complete 
service tracking surveys, for each client each time that client is 
assisted, and counseling information surveys. The baseline 
questionnaire and surveys include Name, address, household demographics 
(age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, assets, marital status, 
education, current work status, number of dependents, living situation 
and costs); financial information (gross monthly income, amount in 
savings, amount in retirement accounts, monthly rent paid, monthly 
utilities paid, mortgage payment status); Social Security Number (SSN), 
homeownership status, program status information, counseling agency ID, 
employment history of counselor, Born in U.S., English as primary 
language, homeownership status, foreclosure status; name, address, and 
telephone numbers of two relatives or friends for future follow-up. 
This data collection serves two goals (1) it will provide more detailed 
information on the characteristics of key groups of housing counseling 
clients, the specific services they receive from counseling agencies, 
and the short-term outcomes realized from their counseling (2) it will 
lay the groundwork for a follow-up survey of these same clients to look 
at longer-term outcomes (3) it will also help lay the groundwork for an 
impact evaluations or pre-purchase housing counseling by providing 
experience with enrolling counseling clients in a study, collecting 
information on the counseling assistance they receive, and tracking 
them over time.

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a 88 Stat. 1896; 342 U.S.C. 3535(d).

Lisa Schlosser,
Chief Information Officer.
HUD/PDR-10

SYSTEM NAME:
    Housing Counseling Research Data Files.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Housing Counseling Research Data Files servers are in Cambridge 
Massachusetts. System is maintained and operated by Abt Associates, 
IMPAQ International and software is loaded on their desktop computer at 
the Columbia Maryland location. The client system database software 
will be installed on secure servers at IMPAQ International in Columbia, 
MD. Project staff at IMPAQ will access the servers via the IMPAQ 
computer network infrastructure, again with authorization (username and 
password) required.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Individuals selected in a random sample of clients participating in 
housing counseling.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Name, address, household demographics (age, gender, race, 
ethnicity, income, assets, marital status, education, current work 
status, number of dependents, living situation and costs); financial 
information (gross monthly income, amount in savings, amount in 
retirement accounts, monthly rent paid, monthly utilities paid, 
mortgage payment status); Social Security Number, homeownership status, 
program status information, counseling agency ID, employment history of 
counselor, Born in U.S., English as primary language, homeownership 
status, foreclosure status; name, address, and telephone numbers of two 
relatives or friends for future follow-up.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Sec. 501, 502, Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 
91-609), 12 U.S.C. 1701z-1, 1701z-2.

PURPOSE:
    To conduct an outcome evaluation study on the outcomes realized by 
clients of HUD-funded Housing Counseling Agencies seeking assistance to 
either purchase a home (pre-purchase clients) or to resolve or prevent 
a

[[Page 54849]]

mortgage delinquency (foreclosure mitigation clients). The study is 
designed to gather statistically accurate information on outcomes 
realized by the clients of the participating housing counseling 
agencies. The study focuses on two groups of clients: (1) Clients 
seeking assistance to purchase a home (pre-purchase clients) and (2) 
clients seeking to resolve or prevent a mortgage delinquency 
(foreclosure mitigation clients). Up to Thirty housing counseling 
agencies at random will be recruited to participate in this study. The 
selected agencies will provide samples of data from each of the two 
groups, selected. The data collected through the study will support 
analysis of not just the frequency of different client outcomes, but 
also the association between these outcomes and client characteristics, 
client circumstances, and the extent of services received. 
Additionally, the proposed study will fulfill two important needs for 
HUD and the counseling field. First, it will provide systematic 
information on the outcomes realized by counseling clients and how 
these outcomes vary with the characteristics or clients and the 
services they receive. The study will also lay the groundwork for a 
subsequent pre-purchase impact evaluation by testing data collection 
procedures to be used to enroll clients, gather information on the 
characteristics of the services they receive, and track them over time.

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. A.
    A. To individuals under contract to HUD or under contract to 
another agency with funds provided by HUD--for the preparation of 
studies and statistical reports directly related to the management of 
HUD's Housing Counseling Programs.
    B. To future researchers selected by HUD to carry out the 
objectives of HUD's Housing Counseling Program in aggregate form 
without individual identifiers--name, address, social security number--
for the performance of research and statistical activities of the 
Housing Counseling Programs.
    C. To authorized social science researchers participating in HUD's 
Housing Counseling Program in aggregate form without individual 
identifiers--name, address, social security number--for the performance 
of research and statistical activities of the Housing Counseling 
Programs.
    D. To participating counseling agencies for only part of the 
database to gather data identifying information that they gather from 
their own clients participating in the study and not the part of the 
database that contains social security numbers, birth dates, or data on 
the housing counseling clients of other agencies.
    E. To credit bureaus to draw credit reports on the individuals 
selected to participate in the Housing Counseling Outcome Evaluation.
    F. To HUD's Housing Counseling System, including the Client 
Activity Reporting System (CARS) to match sample clients' baseline, 
service tracking, and outcome data gathered during the course of this 
research to data reported on those clients in CARS.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    In file folders and electronic files stored on contractors' secured 
servers and computers.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Name, address.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Manual files will be kept in sealed envelopes, in locked cabinets, 
in locked offices; computer records will be maintained in a separate 
secured area accessible only to authorized personnel with passwords. 
The consent forms will be scanned into electronic files that will be 
encrypted and then provided to Abt Associates via a secure, password 
protected HTTPS site. When the consent forms are used to obtain credit 
reports for the study, a copy of the consent form will be provided 
using the same secure HTTPS site and encrypted files to the agency that 
obtains the credit reports. The baseline questionnaires will be entered 
into an electronic database that will be encrypted at the database 
level and accessible only to authorized personnel with passwords. Both 
the consent forms and baseline questionnaires will then be stored at a 
secure off-site facility for the duration of the project.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    All personal identifiers will be destroyed approximately six months 
after the research is completed.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    Mark Shroder, Acting Director of the Program Evaluation Division, 
Office of Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410, 
Telephone Number (202) 402-5922.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    For information, assistance, or inquiry about existence or records, 
contact Donna Robinson-Staton, Departmental Privacy Act Officer, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, in accordance with the procedures in 24 CFR part 16.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Procedures for the amendment or correction of records, and for 
applicants who want to appeal initial agency determination appear in 24 
CFR part 16. If additional information is needed, contact:
    (i) In relation to contesting contents of records, the Departmental 
Privacy Act Officer at HUD, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 2256, 
Washington, DC 20410; and
    (ii) In relation to appeals of initial denials, HUD, Departmental 
Privacy Appeals Officer, Office of General Counsel, 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20410.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The original records are transferred from information obtained from 
baseline questionnaires for participating clients and service tracking 
surveys on counseling services received by those clients from the 
record subjects, participating counseling agencies, and credit bureaus.

EXEMPTIONS FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:
    None.
[FR Doc. E8-22144 Filed 9-22-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P