System name: Central Registry of Individuals Doing Business With HHS, HHS/OS/ASMB 2.
Security classification: None.
System location: Division of Financial Operations and Fiscal Procedures, Room 739D1, Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201.
Categories of individuals covered by the system: Individuals who are the recipients of Federal Domestic Assistance Grants, or of contracts awarded by HHS.
Categories of records in the system: An index of names, addresses and identification number (SSN) of the individual doing business with HHS. No other personally identifiable data are maintained. The index is termed public information since data relative to Federal Domestic Assistance and Contracts are public information.
Authority for maintenance of the system: 5 U.S.C. 301.
Purpose(s): This registry is maintained to provide a standard code to uniquely identify entities, including individuals, together with mailing address and other characteristic data to all principal
operating components, agencies, regional offices and staff offices of the Department. The use of a single code per entity in all Departmental data systems enhances communication with an entity, as
well diminishing the need to maintain duplicative data and files at various locations. Major categories of entities in the central file are those awarded contracts and awarded grants under Federal Domestic Assistance programs. Only those persons in the Department with a “need to know'' have access to the published registry and to the automated records.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:
a. Disclosure may be made to a congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an inquiry from the congressional office made at the request of that individual.
b. In the event of litigation where the defendant is (a) the Department, any component of the Department, or any employee of the Department in his or her official capacity; (b) the United States
where the Department determines that the claim, if successful, is likely to directly affect the operations of the Department or any of its components; or (c) any Department employee in his or her individual capacity where the Justice Department has agreed to represent such employee, the Department may disclose such records as it deems desirable or necessary to the Department of Justice to enable that Department to present an effective defense, provided such disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
c. In the event the Department deems it desirable or necessary, in determining whether particular records are required to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, disclosure may be made to the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining its advice.
d. A record from this system of records may be disclosed as a “routine use'' to a federal, state or local agency maintaining civil, criminal or other relevant enforcement records or other pertinent records, such as current licenses, if necessary to obtain a record relevant to an agency decision concerning the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security clearance, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant or other benefit.
A record from this system of records may be disclosed to a federal agency, in response to its request, in connection with the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security
clearance, the reporting of an investigation of an employee, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit by the requesting agency, to the extent that the record is relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the matter.
e. Where federal agencies having the power to subpoena other federal agencies' records, such as the Internal Revenue Service or the Civil Rights Commission, issue a subpoena to the Department for records in this system of records, the Department will make such records available.
f. Where a contract between a component of the Department and a labor organization recognized under E.O. 11491 provides that the agency will disclose personal records relevant to the organization's mission records in this system of records may be disclosed to such organization.
g. Records may be disclosed to student volunteers, individuals working under a personal services contract, and other individuals performing functions for the Department but technically not having
the status of agency employees, if they need access to the records in order to perform their assigned agency functions.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system:
Storage: Hard copy code booklets are manually filed at agency and regional office sites; and on disc pack and magnetic tapes at central computer sites.
Retrievability: Record may be found in the Code Book by either name or social security number; record in the disc pack and on magnetic tape is indexed by social security number. The Code Book provides a listing of data processing numbers for grant, contract and financial transactions. These numbers are used to access the name and address of the individual in the Automated Library (Central Registry). The information is used for check preparation, reports, mailings, etc.
Safeguards: Safeguards to insure integrity of records, and that required to provide protection against loss by accident or carelessness.
Retention and disposal: Records are purged from the automated file each two years; only persons actively dealing with HHS remain on file. Code Books are replaced each year. Inactive books are destroyed.
System manager(s) and address: Deputy Assistant Secretary, Finance, Department of HHS, Office of the Secretary, Room 705D1, Humphrey Building, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201.
Notification procedure: Inquiries are to be made, either in writing or in person, to the organization listed under “location''. Give name and social security number.
Record access procedures: Same as notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record contents being sought. (These access procedures are in accordance with Department Regulations (45 CFR 5b.5(a)(2)) Federal Register, October 8, 1975, page 47410.)
Contesting record procedures: Contact the official at the address specified under System Location, and reasonably identify the record and specify the information to be contested and corrective action sought with supporting justification. (These procedures are in accordance with Department Regulations (45 CFR 5b.7) Federal Register, October 8, 1975, page 47411.)
Record source categories: Grant and Contract documents. Names, social security numbers and addresses are provided by the individual when applying for a grant or contract from the Department.
Systems exempted from certain provisions of the act: None.
