§ 9.19 Acceptance of service on behalf of Secretary.

In any legal proceeding, at the option of the server, process or pleadings may be served on agency counsel, with the same effect as if served upon the Secretary or the head of the operating administration concerned, as the case may be. The official accepting service under this section shall acknowledge the service and take appropriate action. This section does not in any way abrogate or modify the requirements of Rule 4(d)(4) and 4(d)(5) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding service of summons and complaint.

It is the policy of the Department of Transportation to comply with the letter and the spirit of the Privacy Act (the Act). Therefore, personal data contained in each system of records is afforded adequate protection against unauthorized access, is as accurate as is feasible, and is limited to that necessary to accomplish the stated use or uses of the system. Further, no system of records is exempted from the requirements of the Act unless it is determined that to do so is in the best interest of the government with due concern for individual rights.

§ 10.5 Definitions.

Unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply in this part:

Administrator means the head of an operating administration and includes the Commandant of the Coast Guard.

Department means the Department of Transportation, including the Office of the Secretary, the Office of Inspector General, and the following operating administrations: This definition specifically excludes the Surface Transportation Board, which has its own Privacy Act regulations (49 CFR Part 1007), except to the extent that any system of records notice provides otherwise.

(a) The United States Coast Guard. (b) The Federal Aviation Administration.

(c) The Federal Highway Administration.

(d) The Federal Railroad Administration.

(e) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(f) Fedéral Transit Administration. (g) The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

(h) The Research and Special Programs Administration.

(1) Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

General Counsel means the General Counsel of the Department.

Includes means "includes but is not limited to;"

Individual means a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted;

Maintain includes maintain, collect, use, or disseminate;

May is used in a permissive sense to state authority or permission to do the act prescribed;

Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by the Department including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and that contains the name of, or an identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to, the individual, such as a finger or voice print or a photograph;

Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation or any person to whom has been delegated authority in the matter concerned;

System of records means a group of any records under the control of the

Department from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual;

Statistical record means a record in a system of records maintained for statistical research or reporting purposes only and not in whole or in part in making any determination about an identifiable individual, except as provided by section 8 of title 13, United States Code; and

Routine use means, with respect to the disclosure of a record, the use of such record for a purpose which is compatible with the purpose for which it was collected.

[45 FR 8993, Feb. 11, 1980, as amended at 62 FR 23667, May 1, 1997]

Subpart B-General

§ 10.11 Administration of part.

Authority to administer this part in connection with the records of the Office of the Secretary is delegated to the Assistant Secretary for Administration. Authority to administer this part in connection with records in each operating administration is delegated to the Administrator concerned. An Administrator may redelegate to officers of that administration the authority to administer this part in connection with defined systems of records. An Administrator, however, may redelegate his or her duties under subparts F and G of this part only to his or her deputy and to not more than one other officer who reports directly to the Administrator and who is located at the headquarters of that administration or at the same location as the majority of that administration's systems of records.

[45 FR 8993, Feb. 11, 1980, as amended at 62 FR 23667, May 1, 1997]

§ 10.13 Privacy Act Officer.

(a) To assist with implementation, evaluation, and administration issues, the Chief Information Officer appoints a principal coordinating official with the title Privacy Act Officer, and one Privacy Act Coordinator from his/her staff.

(b) Inquiries concerning Privacy Act matters, or requests for assistance,

may be addressed to the Privacy Act Officer (S-80), Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590.

(c) Administrators may designate Privacy Act Officers or Coordinators to act as central coordinators within their administrations to assist them in administering the Act.

[45 FR 8993, Feb. 11, 1980, as amended by Amdt. 1–290, 62 FR 51804, Oct. 3, 1997]

§ 10.15 Protection of records.

(a) No person may, without permission, remove any record made available for inspection or copying under this part from the place where it is made available. In addition, no person may steal, alter, mutilate, obliterate, or destroy, in whole or in part, such a record.

(b) Section 641 of title 18 of the United States Code provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

Whoever ✶ ✶✶ steals, purloins, or knowingly converts to his use or the use of another, or without authority, sells, conveys or disposes of any record *** or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof *** shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 10 years or both; but if the value of such property does not exceed the sum of $100, he shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year or both * * *.

(c) Section 2071 of title 18 of the United States Code provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited *** in any public office, or with any *** public officer of the United States, shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both.

Subpart C-Maintenance of Records

§ 10.21 General.

Except to the extent that a system of records is exempt in accordance with subpart G of this part, the Department, with respect to each system of records:

(a) Maintains in its records only such information about an individual as is

relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the Department required to be accomplished by statute or by executive order of the President;

(b) Collects information to the greatest extent practicable directly from the subject individual when the information may result in adverse determinations about an individual's rights, benefits, or privileges under Federal programs;

(c) Informs each individual whom it asks to supply information, on the form which it uses to collect the information or on a separate form that can be retained by the individual of:

(1) The authority (whether granted by statute, or by executive order of the President) which authorizes the solicitation of the information and whether disclosure of such information is mandatory or voluntary;

(2) The principal purpose or purposes for which the information is intended to be used;

(3) The routine uses, as published pursuant to paragraph (d)(4) of this section, which may be made of the information; and

(4) The effects, if any, on the individual of not providing all or any part of the requested information;

(d) Publishes in the FEDERAL REGISTER at least annually a notice of the existence and character of the system of records, including:

(1) The name and location of the system;

(2) The categories of individuals on whom records are maintained in the system;

(3) The categories of records maintained in the system;

(4) Each routine use of the records contained in the system, including the categories of users and the purpose of such use;

(5) The policies and practices regarding storage, retrievability, access controls, retention, and disposal of the records;

(6) The title and business address of the official responsible for the system of records;

(7) The procedures whereby an individual can be notified upon request if the system of records contains a record pertaining to that individual;

(8) The procedures whereby an individual can be notified upon request how to gain access to any record pertaining to that individual contained in the system of records, and how to contest its content; and

(9) The categories of sources of records in the system;

(e) Maintains all records which are used in making any determination about any individual with such accuracy, relevancy, timeliness, and completeness as is reasonably necessary to assure fairness to the individual in the determination;

(f) Prior to disseminating any record about an individual to any person other than an agency, unless the dissemination is made pursuant to § 10.35(a)(2), makes reasonable efforts to assure that such records are accurate, complete, timely, and relevant for the Department's purposes;

(g) Maintains no record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment unless:

(1) Expressly authorized by the General Counsel; and

(2) Expressly authorized by statute or by the individual about whom the record is maintained or unless pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity;

(h) Makes reasonable efforts to serve notice on an individual when any record on such individual is made available to any person under compulsory legal process when such process becomes a matter of public record. § 10.23 Accounting of disclosures.

Each operating administration, the Office of Inspector General, and the Office of the Secretary, with respect to each system of records under its control:

(a) Except for disclosures made under §10.35(a) (1) or (2) of this part, keep an accurate accounting of:

(1) The date, nature, and purpose of each disclosure of a record to any person or to another agency made under § 10.33; and

(2) The name and address of the person or agency to whom the disclosure is made;

(b) Retains the accounting made under paragraph (a) of this section for

at least five years or the life of the record, whichever is longer, after the disclosure for which the accounting is made;

(c) Except for disclosures made under § 10.33(a)(7) of this part, makes the accounting made under paragraph (a)(1) of this section available to the individual named in the record at his request; and

(d) Informs any person or other agency about any correction or notation of dispute made by the agency in accordance with §10.45 of any record that has been disclosed to the person or agency if an accounting of the disclosure was made.

[45 FR 8993, Feb. 11, 1980, as amended at 62 FR 23667, May 1, 1997]

§ 10.25 Mailing lists.

An individual's name and address is not sold or rented unless such action is specifically authorized by law. This provision shall not be construed to require the withholding of names and addresses otherwise permitted to be made public.

§ 10.27 Government contractors.

When the Department provides by a contract for the operation by or on behalf of the Department of a system of records to accomplish a function of the Department, the requirements of this part are applied to such system. For purposes of subpart I, Criminal Penalties, any such contractor and any employee of the contractor are considered, in accordance with section 3(m) of the Privacy Act, to be employees of the Department.

§ 10.29 Social Security numbers.

(a) No individual is denied any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual's refusal to disclose his Social Security account number.

(b) The provisions of paragraph (a) of this section do not apply to:

(1) Any disclosure which is required by Federal statute; or

(2) The disclosure of a Social Security number when such disclosure was required under statute or regulation adopted prior to January 1, 1975, to verify the identity of an individual.

(c) When an individual is requested to disclose his or her Social Security account number, that individual is informed whether that disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, by what statutory or other authority such number is solicited, what uses are made of it, and what detriments, including delay in the location of records, are incurred if the number is not provided.

Subpart D-Availability of Records § 10.31 Requests for records.

(a) Ordinarily, each person desiring to determine whether a record pertaining to him/her is contained in a system of records covered by this part or desiring access to a record covered by this part, or to obtain a copy of such a record, shall make a request in writing addressed to the system manager. The "Privacy Act Issuances" published by the Office of the FEDERAL REGISTER, National Archives and Records Administration, describes the systems of records maintained by all Federal agencies, including the Department and its components. In exceptional cases oral requests are accepted. A description of DOT Privacy Act systems notices is available through the Internet free of charge at http:// www.access.gpo.gov/su-docs/aces/

Privacy Act. shtml?desc015.html. See §10.13(b) regarding inquiries concerning Privacy Act matters or requests for assistance.

(b) Each request shall specify the name of the requesting individual and the system of records in which the subject record is located or thought to be located. If assistance is required to determine the system of records identification number assigned in the systems notices, such assistance may be obtained from the appropriate Privacy Act officer or his assistant. Refer to §10.13 for procedures for requesting assistance.

[45 FR 8993, Feb. 11, 1980, as amended at 62 FR 23667, May 1, 1997]

§ 10.33 Acknowledgment and access.

(a) Requests by an individual to determine whether he or she is the subject of a record in a system of records, or requesting access to a record in a

system of records, should be acknowledged within 10 working days, where the request is by mail. For requests in person, an immediate response is given, either granting access or informing such individual when notification or access may be expected.

(b) If the response granting access or copies of the record is made within 10 working days, separate acknowledgment is not required.

(c) Although requests for access to a record are normally in writing, e.g., by filing a written form or letter, it is the option of the individual to mail or present the request form in person.

§ 10.35 Conditions of disclosure.

(a) No record that is contained within a system of records of the Department is disclosed by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains, unless disclosure of the record would be:

(1) To those officers and employees of the Department who have a need for the record in the performance of their duties;

(2) Required under part 7 of this title which implements the Freedom of Information Act;

(3) For a routine use as defined in § 10.5 and described pursuant to § 10.21(d)(4);

(4) To the Bureau of the Census for purposes of planning or carrying out a census or survey or related activity pursuant to the provisions of title 13, United States Code;

(5) To a recipient who has provided the Department with advance adequate written assurance that the record will be used solely as a statistical research or reporting record, and the record is to be transferred in a form that is not individually identifiable;

(6) To the National Archives of the United States as a record which has sufficient historical or other value to warrant its continued preservation by the U.S. Government, or for evaluation by the Administrator of General Services or his designee to determine whether the record has such value;