Notice2026-16210
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 10, 2026
Issuing agencies
State Department
Abstract
Official Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records, State- 80, consists of an accounting of all donations received on behalf of the Department of State for the purposes of: maintaining a historical record, properly allocating donations given for a particular purpose, determining future solicitation and gift acceptance, and providing donors with acknowledgment letters for tax purposes. Gift Donor Vetting Records keeps an accounting of the due diligence vetting process conducted on individuals to determine the potential for conflicts of interest with respect to gifts, potential gifts, and potential partnerships with the Department of State.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 152 (Monday, August 10, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 152 (Monday, August 10, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51518-51520]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-16210]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Number: 13058]
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.
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SUMMARY: Official Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records, State-
80, consists of an accounting of all donations received on behalf of
the Department of State for the purposes of: maintaining a historical
record, properly allocating donations given for a particular purpose,
determining future solicitation and gift acceptance, and providing
donors with acknowledgment letters for tax purposes. Gift Donor Vetting
Records keeps an accounting of the due diligence vetting process
conducted on individuals to determine the potential for conflicts of
interest with respect to gifts, potential gifts, and potential
partnerships with the Department of State.
DATES: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11), this system of
records notice was effective upon publication, with the exception of
the routine uses (a), (b), and (c) that are subject to a 30-day period
during which interested persons may submit comments to the Department.
Please submit any comments by September 9, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Questions about this notice can be submitted by mail, email,
or by calling Timothy J. Kootz, the Senior Agency Official for Privacy,
on (202) 485-2051. If mail, please write to: Timothy J. Kootz, Senior
Agency Official for Privacy; U.S. Department of State; Shared Knowledge
Services, A/SKS; Room 4534, 2201 C St., NW; Washington, DC 20520. If
email, please address the email to the Senior Agency Official for
Privacy, Timothy J. Kootz, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#164559445856656277627338717960"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c79488958987b4b3a6b3a2e9a0a8b1">[email protected]</span></a>. Please write ``Official
Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records, State-80'' on the envelope
or the subject line of your email.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy J. Kootz, Senior Agency
Official for Privacy; U.S. Department of State; Shared Knowledge
Services, A/SKS; Room 4534, 2201 C St., NW; Washington, DC 20520 or by
calling (202) 485-2051.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice will include substantive
modifications to the following sections: System Location; System
Manager(s); Authority For Maintenance of The System; Categories of
Individuals Covered By The System; Categories of Records In The System,
Routine Uses of Records Maintained In The System; Policies And Practice
For Storage of Records; Policies And Practices For Retention And
Disposal of Records; Administrative, Technical, And Physical
Safeguards; Record Access Procedures; Contesting Record Procedures;
Notification Procedures; and History. In addition, the Department is
taking this opportunity to make minor administrative updates to the
SUMMARY, DATES, ADDRESSES; For Further Information Contact; and
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
Official Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records, State-80.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
Unclassified and Classified.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
Records are kept in many locations nationwide.
(a) Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520
(b) U.S. Embassies
(c) U.S. Consulates
(d) U.S. Consulates General
(e) U.S. Missions
(f) Department of State Annexes
(g) Various field and regional offices throughout the United States
(h) Within a government cloud provided, implemented, and overseen
by the Department's Enterprise Server Operations Center (ESOC), 2201 C
Street NW, Washington, DC 20520.
SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
Fund Director, Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial
[[Page 51519]]
Services (CGFS), U.S. Department of State, Room 1821, 2201 C Street NW,
Washington, DC 20520; Vetting Unit, Office of Global Partnerships, U.S.
Department of State, 1800 N Kent Street, Arlington, VA 22209; Director
and Curator, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, Department of State, Room
8231, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
22 U.S.C. 2621 et seq. Foreign Gifts and Decorations; Foreign
Service Buildings Act of 1926, Sec. 9, as amended (22 U.S.C. 300);
State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956, Sec. 25, as amended (22
U.S.C. 2697); Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, Sec. 695(d), as amended
(22 U.S.C. 2395(d)); Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962, Sec.
3(a)(2), as amended (22 U.S.C. 2602); Foreign Gifts and Decorations
Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 7342 and 22 CFR part 3); Acceptance of travel
and related expense from non-Federal Sources (31 U.S.C. 1353); Mutual
Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (Fulbright-Hays), Sec.
105(f) and Sec. 108A, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2455(f) and 22 U.S.C.
2458(a)); 41 CFR parts 301 and 41 CFR part 304.
PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
Official Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records consist of an
accounting of all donations received on behalf of the Department of
State for the purposes of: (a) maintaining a historical record, (b)
properly allocating donations given for a particular purpose, (c)
determining future solicitation and gift acceptance, and (d) providing
donors with acknowledgment letters for tax purposes.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
Individuals who have donated gifts; individuals who are being
solicited to donate gifts; individuals who are points of contact for
corporations or foundations that donate gifts to the Department of
State; and individuals who are otherwise being vetted in connection
with potential gifts to, or partnerships with, the Department of State.
For the purposes of this System of Records Notice (SORN) the term
``Department of State'' includes the department and its subsidiary
divisions which includes U.S. Embassies, U.S. Consulates General, U.S.
Consulates, U.S. Missions, Department of State Annexes, and/or various
field and regional offices throughout the United States. The Privacy
Act defines an individual at 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(2) as a United States
citizen or lawful permanent resident.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
Records in this system include information about gifts to the
Department of State (official gifts) such as gift donor and recipient
information as well as information about individuals who are points of
contact for corporate or foundation donors. Such information includes
but is not limited to:
a. Information about the donor or point of contact including name,
title, address, and relevant business affiliations.
b. Information about gifts and recipients including descriptions of
gifts and decorations; the dollar value of gifts; the recipient bureau,
region, post or office; the purpose of the donation as expressed by the
donor and/or the soliciting office; the authority under which the gift
was received; the date of receipt; type of gift (cash or in-kind); date
of check deposit; deposit number; appropriation type (conditional or
unconditional); copies of checks donated; copies of donor letters; and
copies of acknowledgment letters.
c. Vetting records, which include (1) identifying information about
individual gift donors, potential gift donors, or potential partners
that is used to conduct and narrow due diligence research including the
individual's full name, date of birth, last known residence, website
(if any), affiliation (if any), and other identifying information used
to conduct the vetting process; and (2) information obtained as a
result of due diligence searches including but not limited to; criminal
history information, financial history information (including
bankruptcies), information regarding judgments, information regarding
liens, information regarding global sanctions, as well as any other
information deemed relevant to the determination as to whether there is
a conflict of interest.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
These records contain information collected directly from: the
individual who is the subject of these records; employers and public
references; other officials in the Department of State; other
government agencies; foreign governments; federal and public searchable
databases; other public and professional institutions possessing
relevant information; and other agency systems of records.
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
Official Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records, State-80 may
be disclosed:
(a) To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) the
Department of State suspects or has confirmed that there has been a
breach of the system of records; (2) the Department of State has
determined that as a result of the suspected or confirmed breach there
is a risk of harm to individuals, the Department of State (including
its information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal
Government, or national security; and (3) the disclosure made to such
agencies, entities, and persons is reasonably necessary to assist in
connection with the Department of State efforts to respond to the
suspected or confirmed breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such
harm.
(b) To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when the
Department of State determines that information from this system of
records is reasonably necessary to assist the recipient agency or
entity in (1) responding to a suspected or confirmed breach or (2)
preventing, minimizing, or remedying the risk of harm to individuals,
the recipient agency or entity (including its information systems,
programs, and operations), the Federal Government, or national
security, resulting from a suspected or confirmed breach.
(c) To federal, state, and local tax authorities in connection with
tax, bankruptcy matters, and other lawful purposes.
The Department of State periodically publishes in the Federal
Register its standard routine uses that apply to all its Privacy Act
systems of records. These notices appear in the form of a Prefatory
Statement (published in Volume 73, Number 136, Public Notice 6290, on
July 15, 2008). All these standard routine uses apply to Official Gift
Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records, State-80.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
Records are stored both in hard copy and on electronic media. A
description of standard Department of State policies concerning storage
of electronic records is found here <a href="https://fam.state.gov/FAM/05FAM/05FAM0440.html">https://fam.state.gov/FAM/05FAM/05FAM0440.html</a>. All hard copies of records containing personal
information are maintained in secured file cabinets in restricted
areas, access to which is limited to authorized personnel only.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
Records are retrieved by an individual name; individual address;
date of birth; individual website; donor country; recipient bureau,
region, post or office; purpose; dollar value; date/fiscal year of
[[Page 51520]]
receipt or deposit; corporation, foundation, or entity name; gift type
(cash or in-kind); authority under which gift was received; deposit
number; and appropriation type.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
Records are retained in accordance with the following General
Records Disposition Schedules: DAA-0059-2017-0004-0004; DAA-0059-2017-
0004-0001.
ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
All users are given cyber security awareness training which covers
the procedures for handling Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU)
information, including personally identifiable information (PII).
Annual refresher training is mandatory. In addition, all Department
OpenNet users are required to take the Foreign Service Institute
distance learning course instructing employees on privacy and security
requirements, including the rules of behavior for handling PII and the
potential consequences if it is handled improperly. Before being
granted access to Official Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records,
State-80, a user must first be granted access to the Department of
State computer system.
Department of State employees and contractors may remotely access
this system of records using non-Department owned information
technology. Such access is subject to approval by the Department's
mobile and remote access program and is limited to information
maintained in unclassified information systems. Remote access to the
Department's information systems is configured in compliance with the
Office of Management and Budget Circular Memorandum A-130 multifactor
authentication requirements and includes a time-out function.
All Department of State employees and contractors with authorized
access to records maintained in this system of records have undergone a
background security investigation. Access to the Department, its
annexes and posts abroad is controlled by security guards and admission
is limited to those individuals possessing a valid identification card
or individuals under proper escort. Access to computerized files is
password-protected and under the direct supervision of the system
manager. The system manager has the capability of printing audit trails
of access from the computer media, thereby permitting regular and ad
hoc monitoring of computer usage. When it is determined that a user no
longer needs access, the user account is disabled.
All cloud systems that provide IT services and process Department
of State information must be specifically authorized by the Department
of State Authorizing Official and Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
Information that conforms with Department-specific definitions for
Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) low, moderate,
or high categorization are permissible for cloud usage and must
specifically be authorized by the Department's Cloud Program Management
Office and the Department of State Authorizing Official. Specific
security measures and safeguards will depend on the FISMA
categorization of the information in a given cloud system. In
accordance with Department policy, systems that process more sensitive
information will require more stringent controls and review by
Department cybersecurity experts prior to approval. Prior to operation,
all Cloud systems must comply with applicable security measures that
are outlined in FISMA, FedRAMP, OMB regulations, National Institute of
Standards and Technology's (NIST) Special Publications (SP) and Federal
Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and Department of State
policies and standards.
All data stored in cloud environments categorized above a low FISMA
impact risk level must be encrypted at rest and in-transit using a
federally approved encryption mechanism. The encryption keys shall be
generated, maintained, and controlled in a Department data center by
the Department key management authority. Deviations from these
encryption requirements must be approved in writing by the Department
of State Authorizing Official. High FISMA impact risk level systems
will additionally be subject to continual auditing and monitoring,
multifactor authentication mechanism utilizing Public Key
Infrastructure (PKI) and NIST 800 53 controls concerning
virtualization, servers, storage, and networking, as well as stringent
measures to sanitize data from the cloud service once the contract is
terminated.
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
Individuals who wish to gain access to or amend records pertaining
to themselves should submit a Privacy Act request to the U.S.
Department of State Information Access Programs (IAP) directorate by
following the guidance and procedures located at <a href="https://foia.state.gov/request/request2.aspx">https://foia.state.gov/request/request2.aspx</a>. Mailed requests can be addressed
to U.S. Department of State; Information Access Programs Directorate
(A/SKS/IAP); 2201 C Street, NW; Washington, DC 20520-0000. To request
information under the Privacy Act, the individual should be a citizen
of the United States, or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence. The Privacy Act permits access to an individual's own
records only if those records are within a system of records that are
retrieved by an individual's name or personal identifier.
CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
Individuals who wish to contest the content of any record
pertaining to him or her in the system should write to U.S. Department
of State; Information Access Programs Directorate (A/SKS/IAP); 2201 C
Street, NW; Washington, DC 20520.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
Individuals who wish to be notified if the system contains a record
pertaining to him or her should write to the U.S. Department of State;
Information Access Programs Directorate (A/SKS/IAP); 2201 C Street, NW;
Washington, DC 20520-0000.
EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
HISTORY:
Official Gift Records and Gift Donor Vetting Records, State-80, was
previously published at 80 FR 30525.
Timothy Kootz,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Shared Knowledge Services (A/SKS), U.S.
Department of State,
[FR Doc. 2026-16210 Filed 8-7-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-24-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 10, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.