Privacy Act Exemptions

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is issuing a final rule, exempting a new system of records entitled "Department of the Treasury, Treasury .032--Federal Program Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Tip Intake and Referral Records" from certain provisions of the Privacy Act. This system of records is established to support the receipt, maintenance, review, triage, and referral of tips, complaints, allegations, leads, supporting information, and related correspondence concerning suspected waste, fraud, abuse, improper payments, misuse of Federal funds, or other misconduct affecting Federal programs. The exemption is intended to protect investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 192 (Tuesday, October 6, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 6, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63495-63497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-20469]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Secretary

31 CFR Part 1


Privacy Act Exemptions

AGENCY: Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 
(Privacy Act), the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is issuing a 
final rule, exempting a new system of records entitled ``Department of 
the Treasury, Treasury .032--Federal Program Waste, Fraud, and Abuse 
Tip Intake and Referral Records'' from certain provisions of the 
Privacy Act. This system of records is established to support the 
receipt, maintenance, review, triage, and referral of tips, complaints, 
allegations, leads, supporting information, and related correspondence 
concerning suspected waste, fraud, abuse, improper payments, misuse of 
Federal funds, or other misconduct affecting Federal programs. The 
exemption is intended to protect investigatory material compiled for 
law enforcement purposes.

DATES: This rule is effective on November 5, 2026.

[[Page 63496]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions and questions 
regarding privacy issues, please contact: Ryan Law, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Records, Department of the 
Treasury, 1500 Suite #8100, JBAB, 250 Murray Lane SW, BLDG 410/Door 
123, Washington, DC 20222; telephone: (202) 622-5710.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Treasury published a notice of proposed rulemaking (Systems 
Exemption NPRM) in the Federal Register, 91 FR 36550 (June 17, 2026), 
proposing to exempt portions of the system of records from one or more 
provisions of the Privacy Act.
    Executive Order 14249, ``Protecting America's Bank Account Against 
Fraud, Waste, and Abuse,'' states that it is the policy of the United 
States to defend against financial fraud and improper payments and 
directs Treasury-related activity to support fraud prevention and 
payment integrity. Executive Order 14395, ``Establishing the Task Force 
To Eliminate Fraud,'' directs a comprehensive national strategy to stop 
fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal benefit programs and includes 
Treasury, the Department of Justice, inspectors general, and other 
agencies in coordinated anti-fraud work.
    Treasury intends to receive and maintain tips, complaints, 
allegations, referrals, supporting information, and related 
correspondence submitted by members of the public, Federal agencies, 
law enforcement entities, contractors, and grant recipients concerning 
suspected fraud, waste, abuse, improper payments, misuse of Federal 
funds, and related misconduct affecting Federal programs. Treasury will 
review, assess, validate, categorize, de-duplicate, triage, and refer 
such information to appropriate Federal agencies, Offices of Inspector 
General, law enforcement agencies, or other authorized entities in 
support of fraud detection, investigative, enforcement, and recovery 
activities. Treasury's review and referral activities are intended to 
facilitate the coordination and referral of matters that may warrant 
further review, investigation, enforcement action, or recovery efforts 
by authorized governmental entities.
    To the extent that records maintained within this system constitute 
investigatory material compiled for law-enforcement purposes, including 
information supporting investigative, enforcement, and fraud-detection 
activities conducted by authorized agencies, such records may be exempt 
from certain provisions of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(2).

Public Comments

    Treasury received two comments on the proposed rule. One commenter 
opposed the proposed exemptions, arguing they were overly broad, 
expressing concerns regarding transparency, oversight, and the handling 
of personal information. Another commenter generally supported 
protecting legitimate investigatory material but urged Treasury to 
narrow the scope of the exemption to qualifying investigatory records 
and preserve certain Privacy Act protections for non-law-enforcement 
records.
    The system of records is established to support the receipt, 
maintenance, review, triage, and referral of tips, complaints, 
allegations, leads, supporting information, and related correspondence 
concerning suspected waste, fraud, abuse, improper payments, misuse of 
Federal funds, or other misconduct affecting Federal programs. After 
careful consideration of the comments received, Treasury continues to 
conclude that the exemptions adopted in this final rule are authorized 
by 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2) and are necessary to protect the integrity of 
investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes. The 
exemptions do not apply broadly to all records maintained in the system 
merely because those records are contained in the system. Rather, the 
exemptions apply only to records, or portions of records, that 
constitute investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes 
and otherwise qualify for exemption under 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2). Records 
maintained in the system that do not meet the statutory criteria for 
exemption remain subject to the applicable provisions of the Privacy 
Act. This limitation addresses the commenters' concerns that the 
proposed exemptions could extend to non-law-enforcement records or 
otherwise apply more broadly than permitted by the statute. 
Accordingly, Treasury is adopting the proposed rule without change.
    Treasury is hereby promulgating a final rule to exempt the Federal 
Program Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Tip Intake and Referral Records system 
from certain provisions of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(2) and the authority vested in the Secretary of the Treasury by 
31 CFR 1.23(c).
    Under 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), the head of a Federal agency may 
promulgate rules to exempt a system of records from certain provisions 
of 5 U.S.C. 552a if the system of records contains investigatory 
material compiled for law enforcement purposes that are not within the 
scope of subsection (j)(2) of the Privacy Act (which applies to 
agencies and components thereof that perform as their principal 
function any activity pertaining to the enforcement of criminal laws).
    To the extent that this system of records contains investigatory 
materials compiled for law enforcement purposes protected by 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(2), Treasury exempts the following system of records from 
various provisions of the Privacy Act:
    Treasury .032--Federal Program Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Tip Intake 
and Referral Records.
    Under 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), Treasury is promulgating a final rule to 
exempt certain records in the above-referenced system of records be 
exempt from 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H), and (I), 
and (f) of the Privacy Act. See 31 CFR 1.36.
    The following are the reasons why investigatory materials contained 
in the above-referenced system of records may be exempted from various 
provisions of the Privacy Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2).
    (1) 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3) requires an agency to make any accounting 
of disclosures of records required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(1) available to 
the individual named in the record upon his or her request. Exemption 
from this requirement is appropriate because release of the accounting 
of disclosures could alert individuals that they are the subject of a 
tip, complaint, allegation, referral, inquiry, or law enforcement-
related review or analysis. Disclosure of the accounting could reveal 
the existence, scope, nature, or status of an inquiry or referral and 
could impede law enforcement or program-integrity efforts by allowing 
individuals to evade detection, influence witnesses, alter conduct, 
destroy evidence, fabricate information, or otherwise interfere with 
lawful investigative, enforcement, or recovery activities.
    (2) 5 U.S.C. 552a(d) grants individuals access to records 
containing information about them and permits them to request amendment 
of records pertaining to them. Exemption from these requirements is 
appropriate because access to or amendment of records contained in this 
system could reveal the existence, nature, scope, or status of 
investigatory or law enforcement-related materials and could interfere 
with ongoing or prospective investigations, activities, recovery 
efforts, or other law enforcement purposes. Providing access or 
permitting amendment could enable subjects of tips or investigations to 
avoid detection, intimidate or influence

[[Page 63497]]

witnesses, destroy evidence, conceal assets, coordinate testimony, or 
otherwise impede lawful activities. In addition, investigatory material 
may include information obtained from third parties or other agencies, 
the disclosure of which could compromise confidentiality, investigative 
techniques, or sensitive law enforcement information.
    (3) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(1) requires an agency to maintain only such 
information about an individual as is relevant and necessary to 
accomplish a purpose required by statute or executive order. Exemption 
from this requirement is appropriate because, during the receipt, 
assessment, triage, referral, and review of tips and allegations, 
Treasury may obtain information whose relevance or accuracy is not 
immediately apparent. In the interests of effective fraud prevention, 
payment integrity, law enforcement coordination and program-integrity 
activities, it is appropriate to retain information that may aid in 
identifying patterns, relationships, schemes, trends, or other 
indicators relevant to suspected waste, fraud, abuse, improper 
payments, or related misconduct.
    (4) 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)(G), (H), and (I) and 5 U.S.C. 552a(f) 
require an agency to publish procedures whereby individuals can 
determine whether a system contains records pertaining to them, gain 
access to such records, contest their contents, and identify categories 
of sources of records in the system. Exemption from these requirements 
is appropriate because this system is exempt from the access and 
amendment provisions of subsection (d). Publication of such procedures 
could undermine the purpose of the exemption by revealing investigatory 
interests, law enforcement-sensitive information, or the existence of 
ongoing referral or investigatory activities.
    Any records from another Treasury system of records or another 
Executive Branch agency's system of records for which an exemption is 
claimed under 5 U.S.C. 552a(j) or (k) that may also be included in this 
system of records retain the same exempt status as such records have in 
the system for which the exemption is claimed.

Regulatory Analysis

    This final rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under 
Executive Order 12866.
    Pursuant to the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., it is hereby certified that this final 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. This rule, issued pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552a(k)(2), is to exempt certain information maintained by Treasury in 
the above-referenced system of records from certain provisions of the 
Privacy Act. Small entities, as defined in the RFA, are not provided 
rights under the Privacy Act and are outside the scope of this 
regulation.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 1

    Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Employees, Privacy.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, part 1 of title 31 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 1--DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301, 552, 552a, 553; 31 U.S.C. 301, 321; 31 
U.S.C. 3717.


0
2. Amend Sec.  1.36 in table 10 to paragraph (g)(1)(i) by adding, in 
alphanumeric order, an entry for ``Treasury .032'' to read as follows:


Sec.  1.36  Systems exempt in whole or in part from provisions of the 
Privacy Act and this part.

    (g) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) * * *

                     Table 10 to Paragraph (g)(1)(i)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 No.                             Name of system
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                                * * * * *
Treasury .032........................  Federal Program Waste, Fraud, and
                                        Abuse Tip Intake and Referral
                                        Records.
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Ryan Law,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Records.
[FR Doc. 2026-20469 Filed 10-5-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AK-P


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