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 Thursday, June 26, 2003
Part III
Department of Education 
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records;Notice
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38154
Federal Register
/Vol. 68, No. 123/Thursday, June 26, 2003/Notices
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONPrivacy Act of 1974; System ofRecords
AGENCY
:
Office of Inspector General,Department of Education.
ACTION
:
Notice of an altered system of records.
SUMMARY
:
In accordance with thePrivacy Act of 1974, as amended(Privacy Act), the Department of Education (Department) publishes thisnotice proposing to revise the system of records for the Investigative Files of theInspector General ED/OIG (18–10–01),64 FR 30151–30153 (June 4, 1999), asamended, 67 FR 4415 (January 30,2002). This notice expands thecategories of information maintained inthe system and changes the equipmentconfiguration used to store theinformation. This notice also proposestwo new routine uses for theinformation contained in the system.This system of records providesessential support for investigativeactivities of the Office of InspectorGeneral (OIG) relating to theDepartment’s programs and operations,enabling the OIG to secure and maintainthe necessary information and tocoordinate with other law enforcementagencies as appropriate.
DATES
:
The Department seeks commentson the proposed new routine usedisclosures described in this system of records notice, in accordance with therequirements of the Privacy Act. Wemust receive your comments on or before July 28, 2003.The Department filed a reportdescribing the altered system of recordscovered by this notice with the Chair of the Senate Committee on GovernmentalAffairs, the Chair of the HouseCommittee on Government Reform, andthe Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,Office of Management and Budget(OMB) on June 20, 2003. This alteredsystem of records will become effectiveat the later date of—(1) the expiration of the 40-day period for OMB review on July 30, 2003, or (2) July 28, 2003,unless the system of records needs to bechanged as a result of public commentor OMB review.
ADDRESSES
:
Address all comments aboutthis altered system of records to theAssistant Inspector General forInvestigation Services, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,room 4132, Mary E. Switzer Building,Washington, DC 20202–1510. If youprefer to send your comments throughthe Internet, use the following address:
comments@ed.gov 
You must include the term ‘‘OIGInvestigative Files’’ in the subject line of your electronic message.During and after the comment period,you may inspect all public commentsabout this notice in room 4022, Mary E.Switzer Building, 330 C Street, SW.,Washington, DC, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Eastern time,Monday through Friday of each weekexcept Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals WithDisabilities in Reviewing theRulemaking Record 
On request we will supply anappropriate aid, such as a reader orprint magnifier, to an individual with adisability who needs assistance toreview the comments or otherdocuments in the public rulemakingrecord for this notice. If you want toschedule an appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listedunder
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
 
CONTACT
.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
 Shelley Shepherd, Assistant Counsel tothe Inspector General, 400 MarylandAvenue, SW., MES Building, room4020, Washington, DC 20202–1510.Telephone: (202) 205–5606. If you use atelecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the FederalInformation Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.Individuals with disabilities mayobtain this document in an alternativeformat (
e.g.
, Braille, large print,audiotape, or computer diskette) onrequest to the contact person listed inthe preceding paragraph.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
Introduction
The Privacy Act requires theDepartment to publish in the
FederalRegister
this notice of an altered systemof records (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11)).The Department’s regulationsimplementing the Privacy Act arecontained in the Code of FederalRegulations (CFR) in 34 CFR part 5b.The Privacy Act applies to a recordabout an individual that containsindividually identifiable informationthat is retrieved by a unique identifierassociated with each individual, such asa name or social security number. Theinformation about each individual iscalled a ‘‘record’’ and the system,whether manual or computer-based, iscalled a ‘‘system of records.’’ ThePrivacy Act requires each agency topublish notices of systems of records inthe
Federal Register
and to preparereports to OMB whenever the agencypublishes a new or altered system of records.A system of records is considered‘‘altered’’ whenever an agency expandsthe types or categories of informationmaintained, significantly expands thetypes or categories of individuals aboutwhom records are maintained, changesthe purpose for which the informationis used, changes the equipmentconfiguration in a way that createssubstantially greater access to therecords, adds an exemption pursuant tosubsections (j) or (k) of the Privacy Act,or adds a routine uses disclosure to thesystem. Since the last amendment tothis system of records, which waspublished in the
Federal Register
on January 30, 2002, (67 FR 4415), anumber of technical changes are neededto update and accurately describe thecurrent system of records. This noticeexpands the type of informationmaintained in the system, clarifies thecategories of individuals, adds two newroutine use disclosures, and changes theequipment configuration used to storethe information in order to create greateraccess to the records by OIG employeesthrough the use of a Web-basedcomputer system.Under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C. Appendix,Inspectors General, including theDepartment’s Inspector General, areresponsible for conducting, supervising,and coordinating investigations relatingto programs and operations of theFederal agency for which their office isestablished. This system of recordsfacilitates the OIG’s performance of thisstatutory duty. The changes proposed inthe attached notice are intended toexpand the information maintained inthe system, change the equipmentconfiguration used to store theinformation in order to create greateraccess to the records by OIG staff, andadd routine uses to make statutorilyrequired disclosures of informationcontained in the system. Collectively,these revisions will enhance the abilityof the OIG to combat fraud, waste, andabuse in the Department’s programs andoperations, as required by the InspectorGeneral Act.This system includes records onindividuals who are the subject of openor closed OIG investigations. Therecords contain evidence compiled byOIG investigators, investigative reports,referrals to the Department and to otherinvestigative or prosecutorialauthorities, and records of disposition of cases. These records include, but are notlimited to, electronic informationincluding names, addresses, socialsecurity numbers, dates of birth, and
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Federal Register
/Vol. 68, No. 123/Thursday, June 26, 2003/Notices
aliases for subjects, targets, witnesses,and victims associated withinvestigations; reports of interviews;investigative memoranda; requests andapprovals for case openings andclosings and for the use of specialinvestigative techniques requiringapproval by management; and electroniccopies of photographs, scanneddocuments, and electronic media suchas audio and video. The system willstore investigative work products, aswell as all investigation results andother tracking information needed toidentify trends, patterns, and otherindicators of fraud and abuse within theDepartment
’
s programs and operations.The information in this system of records will be used for purposes of 
—
(1) conducting and documentinginvestigations by the OIG or otherinvestigative agencies regarding theDepartment
’
s programs and operationsand reporting the results of investigations to other Federal agencies,other public authorities or professionalorganizations that have the authority to bring criminal prosecutions or civil oradministrative actions, or to imposeother disciplinary sanctions; (2)documenting the outcome of OIGinvestigations; (3) maintaining a recordof the activities that were the subject of investigations; (4) reportinginvestigative findings to otherDepartment components for their use inoperating and evaluating their programsor operations, and in the imposition of civil or administrative sanctions; (5)maintaining a record of complaints andallegations received relative toDepartment programs and operationsand documenting the outcome of OIGreviews of those complaints andallegations; (6) coordinatingrelationships with other Federalagencies, State and local governmentalagencies, and nongovernmental entitiesin matters relating to the statutoryresponsibilities of the OIG; (7) acting asa repository and source for informationnecessary to fulfill the reportingrequirements of the Inspector GeneralAct of 1978, as amended, 5 U.S.C.Appendix; (8) reporting on the activitiesof the Inspector General to thePresident
’
s Council on Integrity andEfficiency; and (9) participating in theinvestigative qualitative assessmentreview process requirements of theHomeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L.107
–
296.)
Electronic Access To This Document
You may view this document, as wellas all other Department of Educationdocuments published in the
FederalRegister
in text or Adobe PortableDocument Format (PDF) on the Internetat the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/ legislation/FedRegister.
 To use PDF you must have AdobeAcrobat Reader, which is available freeat this site. If you have questions aboutusing PDF, call the U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office (GPO), toll-free, at 1
–
888
–
293
–
6498; or in the Washington,DC, area at (202) 512
–
1530.
Note:
The official version of this documentis the document published in the
FederalRegister
. Free Internet access to the officialedition of the
Federal Register
and the Codeof Federal Regulations is available on GPOAccess at:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/ index.html.
Due to the extensive revisions in thisnotice, it is being published in itsentirety.
Dated: June 9, 2003.
John P. Higgins, Jr.,
Inspector General.
For the reasons discussed in thepreamble, the Inspector General of theU.S. Department of Education publishesa notice of an altered system of recordsto read as follows:
18–10–01
SYSTEM NAME
:
Investigative Files of the InspectorGeneral.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION
(
S
):
Office of the Inspector General,Investigation Services (AIGI), U.S.Department of Education, 330 C Street,SW., Mary E. Switzer Building, Room4132, Washington, DC 20202. See theAppendix at the end of this notice foradditional system locations.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE
 
SYSTEM
:
Categories include subjects, targets,witnesses, victims, current and formeremployees of the U.S. Department of Education (Department), andindividuals who have any relationshipto financial assistance or othereducational programs administered bythe Department, or to managementconcerns of the Department, including but not limited to
—
grantees,subgrantees, contractors, subcontractors,program participants, recipients of Federal funds or federally insuredfunds, and officers, employees, or agentsof institutional recipients or programparticipants.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM
:
Categories include investigation filespertaining to violations of criminallaws, fraud, waste, and abuse withrespect to the administration of Department of Education programs andoperations, and violations of employeeStandards of Conduct in 34 CFR part 73.These investigation files will contain, but will not be limited to, electronicinformation including names, addresses,social security numbers, dates of birth,and aliases for subjects, targets,witnesses, and victims associated withinvestigations; reports of interview;investigative memoranda; requests andapprovals for case openings andclosings and for the use of specialinvestigative techniques requiringapproval by management; and electroniccopies of photographs, scanneddocuments, and electronic media suchas audio and video. The system willstore investigation work products, aswell as all investigation results andother tracking information needed toidentify trends, patterns, and otherindicators of fraud and abuse within theDepartment of Education programs andoperations.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM
:
The Inspector General Act of 1978, asamended, (5 U.S.C. Appendix).
PURPOSE
(
S
):
Pursuant to the Inspector General Actof 1978, as amended, the system ismaintained for the purposes of 
—
(1)conducting and documentinginvestigations by the Office of InspectorGeneral (OIG) or other investigativeagencies regarding Department of Education programs and operations andreporting the results of investigations toother Federal agencies, other publicauthorities or professional organizationsthat have the authority to bring criminalprosecutions or civil or administrativeactions, or to impose other disciplinarysanctions; (2) documenting the outcomeof OIG investigations; (3) maintaining arecord of the activities that were thesubject of investigations; (4) reportinginvestigative findings to otherDepartment of Education componentsfor their use in operating and evaluatingtheir programs or operations and in theimposition of civil or administrativesanctions; (5) maintaining a record of complaints and allegations receivedrelative to Department of Educationprograms and operations anddocumenting the outcome of OIGreviews of those complaints andallegations; (6) coordinatingrelationships with other Federalagencies, State and local governmentalagencies, and nongovernmental entitiesin matters relating to the statutoryresponsibilities of the OIG; (7) acting asa repository and source for informationnecessary to fulfill the reporting
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