Privacy Act: Computer matching programs,

[Federal Register: July 21, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 139)]

[Notices]

[Page 39118-39119]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr21jy98-106]

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

Privacy Act of 1974: Computer Matching Program

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service, Treasury.

[[Page 39119]]

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs, notice is hereby given of the conduct of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) program of computer matches.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice will be effective August 20, 1998, unless comments dictate otherwise.

ADDRESSES: Comments or inquiries may be mailed to the Chief Inspector, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Jacqueline Greening, Internal Auditor, Quality Assurance and Oversight Section, Office of Planning and Management, Office of Assistant Chief Inspector (Internal Auditor), Internal Revenue Service, (202) 622-5911.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: IRS management is responsible for discouraging the perpetration of irregular or illegal acts and limiting any exposure if an integrity breach occurs. To assist in accomplishing this mission, the Inspection Service has enhanced its conventional audit and investigative activities with a program to detect and deter unauthorized access (UNAX) by IRS employees to taxpayer information.

The Audit Trail Lead Analysis System (ATLAS) is a system designed to detect unauthorized access to taxpayer records. It does so by identifying IRS employees who have accessed taxpayer records using the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) in a manner that appears to be inconsistent with standard IRS practice.

One of the five IRS organizational strategies is to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the IRS by a dedication to the highest ethical standards. One of the ways that the Inspection Service supports this objective is to provide IRS management an assessment of the organization's ethical environment through the UNAX Program, which is part of the overall Inspection Service Integrity Program.

Computer matching is the most feasible method of performing comprehensive analysis of employee, taxpayer, and tax administration data because of the large number of employees (56,000 employees access IDRS); the geographical dispersion of IRS offices and employees (nationwide); and the tremendous volume of computerized data that is available for analysis (100 million IDRS transactions are generated each month).

This program will be conducted using audit trails and IDRS records generated from each Service Center. Four years of audit trail records will be available to search.

NAME OF SOURCE AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service.

NAME OF RECIPIENT AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service.

BEGINNING AND COMPLETION DATES: This program of computer matches is expected to commence on July 31, 1998, but not earlier than the fortieth day after copies of the Computer Matching Agreement are provided to the Congress and OMB unless comments dictate otherwise. The program of computer matches is expected to conclude at the end of the eighteenth month after the beginning date (January 31, 2000).

PURPOSE: The purpose of this program of computer matches is to detect unauthorized access to taxpayer records by IRS employees. The system will identify employees who have accessed taxpayer records using the IDRS in a manner that appears to be inconsistent with standard IRS practice.

AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 301, 26 U.S.C. 7213, 7213A, 7214, 7608, 7801, 7802, 7803, 18 U.S.C. 1030(a)(2)(B); and Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1952, pursuant to Section 7804(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The Computer Security Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100-235). The Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) (Pub. L. 97-255). Executive Order 12674 of April 12, 1989, entitled, ``Principles of Ethical Conduct for Government Officers and Employees.'' OMB Circular A-130, ``Management of Federal Information Resources,'' dated February 8, 1996. OMB Circular A-123, ``Internal Control Systems,'' dated August 16, 1983.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED: Current and former employees of the IRS and contractors for the IRS.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS COVERED: Included in this program of computer matches is information related to computer inquiries and entries to the IDRS (Treasury/IRS 34.018) made by IRS employees: employee identification numbers and employee social security numbers, command codes used, taxpayer identification number accessed, terminal from which access occurred, date and time of access. Information from the Individual Master File (IMF) (Treasury/IRS 24.030), the Business Master File (BMF) (Treasury/IRS 24.046), and the Treasury Integrated Management Information System (TIMIS) (Treasury/DO .002) will be used to obtain employee address and spouse's name.

Other information from these files not uniquely pertaining to the IRS employee(s) but that could possibly establish a relationship between the IRS employee(s) and the account(s) accessed will be used to determine the actions or the effect of actions of employee(s) or to corroborate declarations or statements by employee(s). From IDRS (Treasury/IRS 34.018): Taxpayer identification number and tax period. From IMF (Treasury/IRS 24.030) and BMF (Treasury/IRS 24.046): Taxpayer entity information, including address, current and prior name, and tax account status. From TIMIS (Treasury/DO .002): employee identifying and locating information, including address, current name and name of spouse.

Dated: July 15, 1998. Shelia Y. McCann, Deputy Assistant Secretary (Administration).

[FR Doc. 98-19343Filed7-20-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830-01-P