Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Published date28 July 2021
Citation86 FR 40498
Record Number2021-16054
SectionNotices
CourtDefense Department
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 142 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
                [Notices]
                [Pages 40498-40500]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2021-16054]
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                DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
                Office of the Secretary
                [Docket ID: DoD-2021-OS-0076]
                Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
                AGENCY: Department of Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA),
                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, DoD is
                establishing a new system of records titled ``Survey Data and
                Assessment,'' DHRA 03. In alignment with the Office of People Analytics
                (OPA) strategic mission, the system provides key metrics to meet the
                requirement of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness)
                Human Resources Strategic Plan. The system facilitates the development
                of key strategic indicators on personnel career plans, retention
                decisions, morals, and commitments, and historically provide the
                ability to evaluate the impact of policies and programs with regards to
                readiness and retention.
                DATES: This system of records is effective upon publication; however,
                comments on the Routine Uses will be accepted on or before August 27,
                2021. The Routine Uses are effective at the close of the comment
                period.
                ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and
                title, by either of the following methods:
                 Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
                 Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
                 Mail: DoD cannot receive written comments at this time due to the
                COVID-19 pandemic. Comments should be sent electronically to the docket
                listed above.
                 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. Jessica M. Levin, DHRA Component
                Privacy Officer, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Suite 08F05, Alexandria, VA
                22350; [email protected] or 571-372-1964.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                I. Background
                 The Survey Data and Assessment, DHRA 03, system of records
                maintains data about individuals who completed DoD-sponsored survey
                questionnaires or participated in DoD-sponsored focus group data
                collections, including military members, military spouses, civilians,
                persons eligible for DoD benefits (including retirees), and Service
                Academy students. It also maintains data about individuals involved in
                market research studies, including men and women of military age, and
                applicants to the military services.
                 This system of records uses this information to assess
                characteristics of DoD personnel and households to support manpower and
                benefits research; to assess DoD personnel attitudes, opinions, and or
                experiences related to social issues; and to assess attitudes toward
                joining the military and reasons for leaving. This information is used
                to provide the DoD with fast, accurate assessments of the attitudes and
                opinions of the entire DoD community in order to evaluate existing
                programs/policies, establish baseline measures before implementing new
                programs/policies, and monitor the progress of programs/policies and
                their effects on the total force.
                 DoD SORNs have been published in the Federal Register and are
                available from the address in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or at the
                Defense Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency Division website at
                https://dpcld.defense.gov/privacy.
                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, DPCLTD has provided a report of this
                system of records to the OMB and to Congress.
                 Dated: July 21, 2021.
                Aaron T. Siegel,
                Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
                SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
                 Survey Data and Assessment, DHRA 03.
                [[Page 40499]]
                SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
                 Unclassified.
                SYSTEM LOCATION:
                 Department of Defense Human Resources Activity, 4800 Mark Center
                Drive, Alexandria, VA 22350; Defense Manpower Data Center, 400 Gigling
                Road, Seaside, CA 93944; Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), 3490 Bass
                Lake Rd., Maple Grove, MN 55311; and Fors Marsh Group, 1010 N Glebe
                Rd., Unit 51, Arlington, VA 22201.
                SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
                 Director, Office of People Analytics, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Suite
                06E25, Alexandria, VA 22350, [email protected], 571-372-0727.
                AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
                 10 U.S.C. 136, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
                Readiness; 10 U.S.C. 481, Racial and ethnic issues; gender issues:
                Surveys; 10 U.S.C. 503(a), Enlistments: Recruiting campaigns; 10 U.S.C.
                1782, Surveys of military families; 10 U.S.C. 2358, Research and
                development projects; Section 572 of Public Law 112-239, National
                Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, DoD Instruction (DoDI)
                1100.13, DoD Surveys; DoDI 1332.14, Enlisted Administrative
                Separations; DoDI 1332.30, Commissioned Officer Administrative
                Separations; DoDI 5505.18, Investigation of Adult Sexual Assault in the
                Department of Defense; DoDI 6945.02, Volume 1, Sexual Assault
                Prevention and Response (SAPR): Program Procedures.
                PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
                 To maintain information collected by DoD through surveys, focus
                groups, and other information collection methodologies, in order to (1)
                assess characteristics of DoD personnel and households to support
                manpower and benefits research; (2) assess DoD personnel attitudes,
                opinions, and/or experiences related to social issues; and (3) assess
                attitudes toward joining the military and reasons for leaving. This
                system of records supports the collection of fast, accurate assessments
                of the attitudes and opinions of the entire DoD community in order to
                evaluate existing programs/policies, establish baseline measures before
                implementing new programs/policies, and monitor progress of programs/
                policies and their effects on the total force. The data is also used to
                support manpower research sponsored by DoD and the military services.
                Survey results provide direct feedback on key Departmental strategic
                indicators. These indicators provide primary data on personnel career
                plans, discrimination, sexual harassment/assault, suicide ideation,
                retention decisions, morale, and commitment, and historically provide
                the ability to evaluate the impact of policies and programs with regard
                to readiness and retention. The surveys also serve as benchmarks by
                which senior DoD officials can track trends over time.
                CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
                 Individuals who completed survey questionnaires or participated in
                focus group data collections, including Service members, Service member
                spouses, civilians, persons eligible for DoD benefits (including
                retirees), and Service Academy students; individuals involved in market
                research studies, including men and women of military age, and
                applicants to the military services.
                CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
                 A. Individual's identifying and demographic data, such as name,
                gender, marital status, birth date, race/ethnicity, citizenship;
                contact information, such as personal/work address, email, and phone
                numbers; education information; employment information (military or
                civilian organization) such as rank, date of rank, date entered
                service, pay grade, title/occupational series, duty position; number
                and age of dependents; and unique survey ID number.
                 B. Survey responses may also include: Attitudes and opinions on
                satisfaction with leadership, reasons to join the military, military
                way of life, use of programs and services, and experiences related to
                sexual harassment, sexual assault, race/ethic discrimination, hazing,
                bullying, and retaliation. Defense Equal Opportunity Climate Survey
                (DEOCS) survey results also include DoD ID Numbers.
                RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
                 The survey information is provided by the individual. Additional
                data is obtained from the following DoD datasets: Active Duty Personnel
                Master File, Reserve Components Common Personnel Data System (RCCPDS),
                Active Duty Family File, Basic Allowance for Housing Population Edit
                Master File, Unit Identification Code (UIC) Address File, Defense
                Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) Point In Time Extract,
                DEERS Point In Time Medical Extract, DEERS Database Extract, and
                Contingency Tracking System Deployment File, Appropriated Fund Civilian
                Personnel Master Edit File, Civilian Pay File, Reserve Address File,
                Reserve Family File, Reserve Pay File, Non-Appropriated Funds Civilian
                File, Active Duty Pay File, and the Active Duty Service File.
                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, the records contained
                herein may 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
                other 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 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.
                 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.
                 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
                [[Page 40500]]
                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 information from this system of records is reasonably
                necessary to assist the recipient agency 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 such recipients and under such circumstances and procedures
                as are mandated by Federal statute or treaty.
                 J. To other Federal agencies in order to support manpower research
                sponsored by DoD and those agencies.
                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. The records may be
                stored on magnetic disc, tape, or digital media; in agency-owned cloud
                environments; or in vendor Cloud Service Offerings certified under the
                Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). To
                maintain confidentiality of survey responses, DoD ID numbers or other
                direct identifiers are never stored in the same database as survey
                responses, but are maintained in bridge files with access only limited
                to a small number of Office of People Analytics staff.
                POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
                 Records can be retrieved using an OPA survey bridge file that
                contains DoD ID Number and survey ID number. Each survey participant is
                assigned a survey ID number. Retrievals are only made in compliance
                with all privacy, human subject protections, and Confidentiality
                Certificates requirements.
                POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
                 A. Master file, system documentation, codebooks, record layouts,
                and other system documentation. Permanent, cut off on completion of the
                report for the DoD office requiring the creation of the report.
                Transfer master file and system documentation to NARA at cutoff in
                accordance with standards of 36 CFR 1228.270 and 36 CFR 1234.
                 B. Hard copy survey questionnaires (inputs/source records).
                Temporary. Destroy after computer records have been created and
                validated.
                 C. Summary reports (electronic or paper). Temporary. Delete/destroy
                when no longer needed for operational purposes.
                ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
                 Records are maintained in controlled areas accessible only to
                authorized personnel. Access to personal information is further
                restricted by the use of Common Access Card and user ID/passwords.
                Paper records are maintained in a controlled facility where physical
                entry is restricted by the use of locks, a card access control system,
                staffed reception areas, and cameras inside and outside which monitor
                all doors. Technical controls in place are user identification and
                passwords, Intrusion Detection System, encryption, firewalls, Virtual
                Private Networks, and Public Key Infrastructure Certificates.
                Administrative controls in place are periodic security audits, ensuring
                only authorized personnel have access to PII, encryption of backups
                containing sensitive data, and securing backups off-site. Additionally,
                to maintain confidentiality of survey responses, DoD ID numbers or
                other direct identifiers are never stored in the same database as
                survey responses, but are maintained in bridge files with access only
                limited to a small number of Office of People Analytics staff.
                RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
                 Individuals seeking access their records should follow the
                procedures in 32 CFR part 310. Individuals should address written
                inquiries to the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff,
                Freedom of Information Act Requester Service Center, Office of Freedom
                of Information, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301. Signed
                written request should contain individual's full name, DoD ID Number
                and current address and telephone number of the individual. In
                addition, the requester must provide a notarized statement or an
                unsworn declaration made in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 1746, in the
                following 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).''
                CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
                 The DoD rules for accessing records, contesting contents and
                appealing initial agency determinations are contained in 32 CFR part
                310.
                NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
                 The DoD rules for accessing records, contesting contents, and
                appealing initial Component determinations are contained in 32 CFR part
                310, or may be obtained from the system manager.
                EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
                 None.
                HISTORY:
                 October 02, 2007, 72 FR 56062.
                [FR Doc. 2021-16054 Filed 7-27-21; 8:45 am]
                BILLING CODE 5001-06-P
                

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