2011-29689. Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended

AGENCY:

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION:

Notice of Proposed Privacy Act System of Records.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, hereinto referred to as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) or the “Bureau” gives notice of the establishment of a Privacy Act System of Records.

DATES:

Comments must be received no later than December 19, 2011. The new system of records will be effective December 27, 2011 unless the comments received result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CFPB-2011-0036, by any of the following methods:

• Electronic: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Claire Stapleton, Chief Privacy Officer, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20006.
• Hand Delivery/Courier in Lieu of Mail: Claire Stapleton, Chief Privacy Officer, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20006.

All submissions must include the agency name and docket number for this notice. In general all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, comments will be available for public inspection and copying at 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20006 on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You can make an appointment to inspect comments by telephoning [phone]. All comments, including attachments and other supporting materials, will become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Claire Stapleton, Chief Privacy Officer, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G St. NW., Washington, DC 20006, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Act”), Public Law No. 111-203, Title X, established the CFPB to administer and enforce the federal consumer financial protection laws. The CFPB will maintain the records covered by this notice.

The new system of records described in this notice, CFPB.009—Employee Administrative Records System will be used to administer the benefits, retirement, human resources, and payroll programs for current and former CFPB employees and their named dependents and/or beneficiaries, as well as to assist in personnel management. A description of the new system of records follows this Notice.

The report of a new system of records has been submitted to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Office of Management and Budget, pursuant to Appendix I to OMB Circular A-130, “Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals,” dated November 30, 2000, and the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(r).

The system of records entitled, “CFPB.009—CFPB Employee Administrative Records System” is published in its entirety below.

November 10, 2011.

Claire Stapleton,

Chief Privacy Officer.

CFPB.009

System Name:

Employee Administrative Records System

System Location:

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G St. NW., Washington, DC 20006

Categories of individuals covered by the system:

Current and former CFPB employees and their named dependents and/or beneficiaries, and individuals who have been extended offers of employment.

Categories of records in the system:

Records in the system may contain data relating to individuals who have been extended offers of employment, current and former CFPB employees and their named dependents and/or beneficiaries, including but not limited to the following: (1) Identification and contact information; (2) demographic data; (3) payroll data; (4) employment related programs such as performance reports, training, and other information relative to employment by the CFPB; (5) benefits data, such as health, life, travel and disability insurance information; and (6) retirement benefits information.

Authority for maintenance of the system:

Pub. L. No. 111-203, Title X, Sections 1012, 1021, codified at 12 U.S.C. §§ 5492, 5511.^[1]

Purpose(s):

The information in the system is being collected to enable the CFPB to administer payroll, benefits, and other employment-related programs including retirement calculations and pay for current and former CFPB employees and their named dependents and/or beneficiaries.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:

These records may be disclosed, consistent with the CFPB's rules relating to Disclosure of Records and Information. Rules are promulgated at 12 CFR 1070 et seq to:

(1) Appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when: (a) The CFPB suspects or has confirmed that the security or confidentiality of information in the system of records has been compromised; (b) the CFPB has determined that, as a result of the suspected or confirmed compromise, there is a risk of harm to economic or property interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or integrity of this system or other systems or programs (whether maintained by the CFPB or another agency or entity) that rely upon the compromised information; and (c) the disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to assist in connection with the CFPB's efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm;

(2) Another federal or state agency to: (a) Permit a decision as to access, amendment or correction of records to be made in consultation with or by that agency; or (b) verify the identity of an individual or the accuracy of information submitted by an individual who has requested access to, or amendment or correction of record;

(3) Congressional offices in response to an inquiry made at the request of the individual to whom the record pertains;

(4) Contractors, agents, or other authorized individuals performing work on a contract, service, cooperative agreement, job, or other activity on behalf of the CFPB or Federal Government and who have a need to access the information in the performance of their duties or activities;

(5) The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) for its use in providing legal advice to the CFPB or in representing the CFPB in a proceeding before a court, adjudicative body, or other administrative body, where the use of such information by the DOJ is deemed by the CFPB to be relevant and necessary to the advice or proceeding, and in the case of a proceeding, such proceeding names as a party in interest:

(a) The CFPB;

(b) Any employee of the CFPB in his or her official capacity;

(c) Any employee of the CFPB in his or her individual capacity where DOJ has agreed to represent the employee; or

(d) The United States, where the CFPB determines that litigation is likely to affect the CFPB or any of its components;

(6) A grand jury pursuant either to a federal or state grand jury subpoena, or to a prosecution request that such record be released for the purpose of its introduction to a grand jury, where the subpoena or request has been specifically approved by a court. In those cases where the Federal Government is not a party to the proceeding, records may be disclosed if a subpoena has been signed by a judge;

(7) A court, magistrate, or administrative tribunal in the course of an administrative proceeding or judicial proceeding, including disclosures to opposing counsel or witnesses (including expert witnesses) in the course of discovery or other pre-hearing exchanges of information, litigation, or settlement negotiations, where relevant or potentially relevant to a proceeding, or in connection with criminal law proceedings;

(8) Appropriate agencies, entities, and persons to the extent necessary to obtain information relevant to current and former CFPB employees' benefits, compensation, and employment;

(9) Appropriate federal, state, local, foreign, tribal, or self-regulatory organization or agency responsible for investigating, prosecuting, enforcing, implementing, issuing, or carrying out a statute, rule, regulation, order, policy, or license if the information may be relevant to a potential violation of civil or criminal law, rule, regulation, order, policy or license;

(10) National, state or local income security and retirement agencies or entities involved in administration of employee retirement and benefits programs (e.g., state unemployment compensation agencies and state pension plans) and any of such agencies' contractors or plan administrators, when necessary to determine employee eligibility to participate in retirement or employee benefits programs, process employee participation in those programs, process claims with respect to individual employee participation in those programs, audit benefits paid under those programs, or perform any other administrative function in connection with those programs;

(11) An executor of the estate of a current or former employee, a government entity probating the will of a current or former employee, a designated beneficiary of a current or former employee, or any person who is responsible for the care of a current or former employee, where the employee has died, has been declared mentally incompetent, or is under other legal disability, to the extent necessary to assist in obtaining any employment benefit or working condition for the current or former employee;

(12) The Internal Revenue Service and other governmental entities that are authorized to tax employees' compensation with wage and tax information in accordance with a withholding agreement with the CFPB pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5516, 5517, and 5520, for the purpose of furnishing employees with IRS Forms W-2 that report such tax distributions;

(13) Unions recognized as exclusive bargaining representatives under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C. 7111, 7114; and

(14) Carriers, providers and other federal agencies involved in administration of employee retirement and benefits programs and such agencies' contractors or plan administrators, when necessary to determine employee eligibility to participate in retirement and benefits programs, process employee participation in those programs, process claims with respect to individual employee participation in those programs, audit benefits paid under those programs, or perform any other administrative function in connection with those programs and federal agencies that perform payroll and personnel processing and employee retirement and benefits plan services under interagency agreements or contracts, including the issuance of paychecks to employees, the distribution of wages, the administration of deductions from paychecks for retirement and benefits programs, and the distribution and receipt of those deductions. These agencies include, without limitation, the Department of Labor, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, the Department of Defense, the Office of Personnel Management, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Department of the Treasury, and the National Finance Center at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and dispensing of records in the system:

Storage:

Paper and electronic records.

Retrievability:

Records are retrievable by a variety of fields including, without limitation, the individual's name, social security number, address, account number, transaction number, phone number, date of birth, or by some combination thereof.

Safeguards:

Access to electronic records is restricted to authorized personnel who have been issued non-transferrable access codes and passwords. Other records are maintained in locked file cabinets or rooms with access limited to those personnel whose official duties require access.

System manager(s) and address:

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Chief Technology Officer, 1700 G St. NW., Washington, DC 20006.

Retention and disposal:

The CFPB will maintain electronic and paper records under the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) schedules General Records Schedule (GRS) GRS 01 and GRS 02.

Notification procedure:

Individuals seeking notification and access to any record contained in this system of records, or seeking to contest its content, may inquire in writing in accordance with instructions appearing in 12 CFR 1070.50 et seq. Address such requests to: Chief Privacy Officer, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G St., NW., Washington, DC 20006.

Record access procedures:

See “Notification Procedures” above.

Contesting record procedures:

See “Notification Procedures” above.

Record source categories:

Information in this system is obtained from individuals and entities associated with benefits, retirement, human resource, and payroll systems administration.

Exemptions claimed for the system:

None.

Footnotes

1.  Section 1066 of the Act grants the Secretary of the Treasury interim authority to perform certain functions of the CFPB. Pursuant to that authority, Treasury published rules on the Disclosure of Records and Information within 12 CFR Chapter X. This SORN is published pursuant to those rules and the Privacy Act.