§ 4902.11 Specific exemptions: Office of Inspector General Investigative File System.

(a) Criminal Law Enforcement —

(1) Exemption. Under the authority granted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(j)(2), PBGC hereby exempts the system of records entitled “PBGC–17, Office of Inspector General Investigative File System—PBGC” from the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a (c)(3), (c)(4), (d)(1) through (4), (e)(1) through (3), (e)(4)(G) and (H), (e)(5), (e)(8), (f), and (g) because the system contains information pertaining to the enforcement of criminal laws.

(2) Reasons for exemption. The reasons for asserting this exemption are:

(i) Disclosure to the individual named in the record pursuant to subsections (c)(3), (c)(4), or (d)(1) through (4) could seriously impede or compromise the investigation by alerting the target(s), subjecting a potential witness or witnesses to intimidation or improper influence, and leading to destruction of evidence.

(ii) Application of subsection (e)(1) is impractical because the relevance of specific information might be established only after considerable analysis and as the investigation progresses. Effective law enforcement requires the Office of Inspector General to keep information that may not be relevant to a specific Office of Inspector General investigation, but which may provide leads for appropriate law enforcement and to establish patterns of activity that might relate to the jurisdiction of the Office of Inspector General and/or other agencies.

(iii) Application of subsection (e)(2) would be counterproductive to performance of a criminal investigation because it would alert the individual to the existence of an investigation.

(iv) Application of subsection (e)(3) could discourage the free flow of information in a criminal law enforcement inquiry.

(v) The requirements of subsections (e)(4)(G) and (H), and (f) do not apply because this system is exempt from the provisions of subsection (d). Nevertheless, PBGC has published notice of its notification, access, and contest procedures because access is appropriate in some cases.

(vi) Although the Office of Inspector General endeavors to maintain accurate records, application of subsection (e)(5) is impractical because maintaining only those records that are accurate, relevant, timely, and complete and that assure fairness in determination is contrary to established investigative techniques. Information that may initially appear inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete may, when collated and analyzed with other available information, become more pertinent as an investigation progresses.

(vii) Application of subsection (e)(8) could prematurely reveal an ongoing criminal investigation to the subject of the investigation.

(viii) The provisions of subsection (g) do not apply to this system if an exemption otherwise applies.

(b) Other Law Enforcement —

(1) Exemption. Under the authority granted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), PBGC hereby exempts the system of records entitled “PBGC–17, Office of Inspector General Investigative File System—PBGC” from the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d)(1) through (4), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G) and (H), and (f) for the same reasons as stated in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, that is, because the system contains investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes other than material within the scope of subsection 552a(j)(2).

(2) Reasons for exemption. The reasons for asserting this exemption are because the disclosure and other requirements of the Privacy Act could substantially compromise the efficacy and integrity of the Office of Inspector General operations. Disclosure could invade the privacy of other individuals and disclose their identity when they were expressly promised confidentiality. Disclosure could interfere with the integrity of information which would otherwise be subject to privileges (see, e.g., 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5)), and which could interfere with other important law enforcement concerns (see, e.g., 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)).

(c) Federal Civilian or Contract Employment —

(1) Exemption. Under the authority granted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(5), PBGC hereby exempts the system of records entitled “PBGC–17, Office of Inspector General Investigative File System—PBGC” from the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d)(1) through (4), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G) and (H), and (f) because the system contains investigatory material compiled for the purpose of determining eligibility or qualifications for federal civilian or contract employment.

(2) Reason for exemption. The reason for asserting this exemption is to protect from disclosure the identity of a confidential source when an express promise of confidentiality has been given to obtain information from sources who would otherwise be unwilling to provide necessary information.

[74 FR 27082, June 8, 2009]