§ 1222.36 - Identifying personal papers.

(a) Personal papers are documentary materials, or any reasonably segregable portion thereof, of a private or nonpublic character that do not relate to, or have an effect upon, the conduct of agency business. Personal papers are excluded from the definition of Federal records and are not owned by the Government. Examples of personal papers include:

(1) Materials accumulated by an official before joining Government service that are not used subsequently in the transaction of Government business;

(2) Materials relating solely to an individual's private affairs, such as outside business pursuits, professional affiliations, or private political associations that do not relate to agency business; and

(3) Diaries, journals, personal correspondence, or other personal notes that are not prepared or used for, or circulated or communicated in the course of, transacting Government business.

(b) Personal papers shall be clearly designated as such and shall at all times be maintained separately from the office's records.

(c) If information about private matters and agency business appears in the same document, the document shall be copied at the time of receipt, with the personal information deleted, and treated as a Federal record.

(d) Materials labeled “personal,” “confidential,” or “private,” or similarly designated, and used in the transaction of public business, are Federal records subject to the provisions of pertinent laws and regulations. The use of a label such as “personal” is not sufficient to determine the status of documentary materials in a Federal office.