(a) This part covers requests under the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) for NARA operational records and records of defunct agencies stored in NARA record centers.

(b) This part explains how NARA collects, uses and maintains records about you that are filed by your name or other personal identifiers and which are contained in a “system of records” as defined by 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(5).

(c) This part describes the procedures to gain access to and contest the contents of your records, and the conditions under which NARA discloses such records to others.

This part does not cover:

(a) Records that have been transferred into the National Archives of the United States for permanent preservation. Archival records that are contained in systems of records that become part of the National Archives of the United States are exempt from most provisions of the Privacy Act (see 5 U.S.C. 552a(l)(2) and (l)(3)). See subchapter C of this chapter for rules governing access to these type records.

(b) Records of other agencies that are stored in NARA record centers on behalf of that agency are governed by the Privacy Act rules of the transferring agency. Send your request for those records directly to those agencies.

(c) Personnel and medical records held by the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) on behalf of the Department of Defense and the Office of Personnel Management. Privacy Act requests for these records should come to the NPRC.

For the purposes of this part, the term:

(a) Access means a transfer of a record, a copy of a record, or the information in a record to the subject individual, or the review of a record by the subject individual.

(b) Agency means any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government-controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency.

(c) Defunct agency means an agency that has ceased to exist, and has no successor in function.

(d) Defunct agency records means the records in a Privacy Act system of a defunct agency that are stored in a NARA records center.

(e) Disclosure means a transfer by any means of a record, a copy of a record, or the information contained in a record to a recipient other than the subject individual, or the review of a record by someone other than the subject individual.

(f) Individual means a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

(g) Maintain includes maintain, collect, use, or disseminate.

(h) NARA Privacy Act Appeal Official means the Deputy Archivist of the United States for appeals of denials of access to or amendment of records maintained in a system of records, except where the system manager is the Inspector General; then the term means the Archivist of the United States.

(i) Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, his or her education, financial transactions, medical history and criminal or employment history, and that contains his or her name or an identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, or photograph. For purposes of this part, “record” does not mean archival records that have been transferred to the National Archives of the United States.

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

(k) Solicitation means a request by a NARA employee or contractor that an individual provide information about himself or herself.

(l) Statistical record means a record in a system of records maintained for statistical research or reporting purposes only and not used in whole or in part in making any determination about an identifiable individual, except as provided by 13 U.S.C. 8.

(m) Subject individual means the individual named or discussed in a record or the individual to whom a record otherwise pertains.

(n) System manager means the NARA employee who is responsible for the maintenance of a system of records and for the collection, use, and dissemination of information in that system of records.

(o) System of records means a group of records from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifier assigned to that individual.

Contact the NARA Privacy Act Officer, National Archives and Records Administration (NGC), Room 3110, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, for guidance in making a Privacy Act request, or if you need assistance with an existing request. The Privacy Act Officer will refer you to the responsible system manager. Details about what to include in your Privacy Act request are discussed in Subpart C of this part.

Records in the custody of NARA in a Government-wide Privacy Act system are the primary responsibility of another agency, e.g., the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) or the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). These records are governed by the regulations established by that agency pursuant to the Privacy Act. NARA provides access using that agency's regulations.

Yes, records of defunct agencies in the custody of NARA at a NARA record center are covered by the provisions of this part.