Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to modify and republish in full a system of records previously titled "OPM/Central-21, Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey" which will be renamed "OPM/Central-21, Annual Employee Survey." The modification is necessary to reflect the replacement of OPM's centrally administered Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) with the Annual Employee Survey (AES). Under the revised model, executive agencies administer the AES to their own employees and provide OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) only de- identified data for governmentwide analysis and reporting. OPM/Central- 21 will cover identifiable records OPM maintains when administering the AES to OPM employees and retained records from prior FEVS administrations. It will not cover identifiable AES records maintained by other agencies.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 215 (Monday, November 9, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 215 (Monday, November 9, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70906-70909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-22837]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Office of 
Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to modify and republish in full a 
system of records previously titled ``OPM/Central-21, Federal Employee 
Viewpoint Survey'' which will be renamed ``OPM/Central-21, Annual 
Employee Survey.'' The modification is necessary to reflect the 
replacement of OPM's centrally administered Federal Employee Viewpoint 
Survey (FEVS) with the Annual Employee Survey (AES). Under the revised 
model, executive agencies administer the AES to their own employees and 
provide OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) only de-
identified data for governmentwide analysis and reporting. OPM/Central-
21 will cover identifiable records OPM maintains when administering the 
AES to OPM employees and retained records from prior FEVS 
administrations. It will not cover identifiable AES records maintained 
by other agencies.

DATES: Submit comments on or before December 9, 2026. These changes are 
effective December 10, 2026.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments using the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. All submissions 
received must include the agency name and docket number for this 
Federal Register document. The general policy for comments and other 
submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions 
available for public viewing on the internet at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> without change, including any personal identifiers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions, please contact 
Jeanne Jacobson, Acting Deputy Associate Director, Workforce Strategy, 
Design, and Insights, Workforce Policy and Innovation, by email at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#81f6f2e5e8c1eef1ecafe6eef7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ff8fcebe6cfe0ffe2a1e8e0f9">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> or by mail at Deputy Associate Director, Workforce 
Strategy, Design, and Insights, Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20415-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, 
the OPM proposes to modify and republish in full a system of records 
previously titled ``OPM/Central-21, Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey'' 
which will be renamed ``OPM/Central-21, Annual Employee Survey.''
    Section 1128 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2004 requires executive agencies to conduct an annual employee 
survey and requires OPM to prescribe common survey questions. OPM 
previously administered the Federal Human Capital Survey and then the 
FEVS as centralized governmentwide surveys that included the required 
annual employee survey items. Beginning with the AES, each agency will 
administer OPM's common form questions to its own employees using the 
methodology and platform selected by that agency. Participating 
agencies may maintain the identifiers they use to administer their 
surveys. Agencies will submit to OPM and OMB only the following fields: 
individual respondent level records for each required AES item, survey 
methodology information as it applies (survey administration dates, 
distribution method, eligible population size and description, sample 
or census, number of respondents, survey completion requirements, 
sampling approach, sample size, nonresponse bias study results) and 
weighting

[[Page 70907]]

methodology as it applies (poststratification method and know 
limitations). The submission will contain aggregate responses and 
combine individual respondent level data at the agency level for the 10 
required items. OPM will apply protections to ensure no individual 
employees can be identified in any governmentwide reporting. OPM will 
separately administer the AES to its own employees and may maintain 
limited identifying information for that administration. OPM will also 
continue to maintain legacy FEVS records until they are disposed of in 
accordance with applicable records schedules.
    This notice changes the system name; updates the system location, 
system manager, authority, purpose, categories of individuals and 
records, record sources, storage, retrieval, retention, safeguards, and 
access and amendment procedures; and revises routine use (h). The 
revisions distinguish current AES records from legacy FEVS records and 
clarify that de-identified AES data received from other agencies are 
outside this system when they do not identify individual respondents 
and OPM does not retrieve them by an individual identifier.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), OPM has provided notice of the 
modified system of records to the Office of Management and Budget and 
to Congress. The modified system of records will be included in OPM's 
updated inventory of record systems.

Signing Statement

    The Director of OPM, Scott Kupor, reviewed and approved this 
document and has authorized the undersigned to electronically sign and 
submit this document to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Alexys Stanley,
Federal Register Liaison.
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    OPM/Central-21, Annual Employee Survey.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Records are maintained by Workforce Strategy, Design, and Insights, 
Workforce Policy and Innovation, Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20415-0001.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Deputy Associate Director, Workforce Strategy, Design, and 
Insights, Workforce Policy and Innovation, U.S. Office of Personnel 
Management, 1900 E. Street NW, Washington, DC 20415-0001.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    5 U.S.C. 1103 and 4702; section 1128 of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Public Law 108-136, set out as 
a note to 5 U.S.C. 7101; 5 CFR 5.2(b) and 9.2; and 5 CFR part 250, 
subparts B and C.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The purpose of the system is to permit OPM to administer the 
voluntary Annual Employee Survey (AES) to OPM employees; determine 
eligibility and distribute invitations and reminders; collect and 
maintain voluntary survey responses; evaluate leadership, management 
practices, and employee satisfaction; analyze OPM's results; publish 
aggregate OPM survey results; and produce aggregate survey results or 
de-identified survey data for OMB's governmentwide analysis, workforce 
planning, and reporting. The system also permits OPM to maintain and 
analyze retained records from prior FEVS administrations for authorized 
statistical, workforce planning, research, reporting, and historical 
purposes. AES data received from other agencies are outside this system 
only when they do not identify an individual and OPM does not retrieve 
them by an individual's name, assigned identifying number or symbol, 
respondent code, linkage key, or other identifying particular. OPM will 
assess whether small groups or combinations of reported attributes 
could permit an individual to be identified and will require 
aggregation or suppression as needed. Removing direct identifiers alone 
does not make records de-identified if OPM can still link them to an 
individual.
    OPM will provide its employees with a Privacy Act Statement with 
the AES invitation and survey instrument, identifying the authority, 
purposes, and routine uses of the collection; that participation is 
voluntary, and the effect of not responding. Agencies administering 
their own AES will provide an appropriate notice for their collections 
and separately assess applicable Privacy Act notice, privacy compliance 
documentation, and vendor requirements.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Current or former OPM employees whose AES records are maintained in 
this system and current or former Federal employees whose records 
remain in retained legacy FEVS datasets.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Current AES records maintained by OPM may include:
    a. Full name;
    b. OPM work email address;
    c. OPM organization, work unit name, or code;
    d.The minimum employment information obtained from OPM personnel or 
human resources records that OPM uses to determine AES eligibility and 
assign results to organizational reporting units: Employment 
information needed to identify the survey population, survey 
eligibility, administer the survey, or calculate survey results, 
including tenure, type of appointment, appointment authority, service 
computation date, duty location, occupation classification or series, 
organizational/work component names and codes, pay status, work 
schedule, pay plan, pay grade, step, and supervisory status. ;
    e. Responses to the AES common form questions and any OPM-approved 
supplemental questions; and
    f. Survey administration and technical information retained by 
OPM:a system-generated survey record identifier, invitation and 
reminder status, completion status, date and time participant interacts 
with the survey, last page viewed, and information about the device 
being used (operating system, browser information, pointing method). 
OPM uses these fields for the survey software to operate, 
troubleshooting technical issues and limited research purposes to 
better understand survey participation, retains them indefinitely for 
trending and research purposes and limits access to only authorized OPM 
personnel whose official duties require access. As an anonymous, open 
link, survey there is nothing collected by the survey software that 
would identify an individual for the 10 prescribed items. In some 
certain circumstances, specific responses to demographics may create 
the potential for identification in the system.
    Legacy FEVS records retained by OPM may include:
    a. Full name;
    b. Email address;
    c. Social Security number, or other unique employee identification 
number;
    d. Agency;
    e. Agency subcomponent;
    f. Organizational/Work component names and codes (up to nine levels 
of work unit information may be obtained);
    g. Appointment authority;
    h. Type of appointment;
    i. Work schedule;
    j. Tenure;
    k. Service computation date;

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    l. Duty location and core based statistical area;
    m. Occupational classification or series;
    n. Personnel Office identifier;
    o. Pay status;
    p. Grade level;
    q. Pay plan;
    r. Base and adjusted salary;
    s. Retirement plan;
    t. Supervisory status;
    u. Ethnicity and Race/National Origin indicator;
    v. Sex;
    w. Date of birth;
    x. Responses to the FEVS survey questions, including demographic 
information.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Current AES records maintained by OPM are obtained from OPM 
personnel or human resources records used to establish eligibility and 
administer the survey and from OPM employees who voluntarily respond. 
Legacy FEVS records were obtained from OPM's Enterprise Human Resource 
Integration system, participating Federal agencies, and individuals who 
voluntarily completed the FEVS. De-identified AES data received from 
other agencies are outside this system when they do not identify 
individual respondents and OPM does not retrieve them by an 
individual's name, assigned identifying number or symbol, or other 
identifying particular. Removing direct identifiers alone does not 
exclude records that OPM retrieves by an individual identifier, 
including a respondent code.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, all or a portion of the records or 
information contained in this system may be disclosed outside OPM as a 
routine use pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows:
    a. To the Department of Justice, including Offices of the U.S. 
Attorneys; another Federal agency conducting litigation or in 
proceedings before any court, adjudicative, or administrative body; 
another party in litigation before a court, adjudicative, or 
administrative body; or to a court, adjudicative, or administrative 
body. Such disclosure is permitted only when it is relevant or 
necessary to the litigation or proceeding and one of the following is a 
party to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation:
    (1) OPM, or any component thereof;
    (2) Any employee or former employee of OPM in his or her official 
capacity;
    (3) Any employee or former employee of OPM in his or her individual 
capacity where the Department of Justice or OPM has agreed to represent 
the employee;
    (4) The United States, a Federal agency, or another party in 
litigation before a court, adjudicative, or administrative body, upon 
the OPM General Counsel's approval, pursuant to 5 CFR part 295 or 
otherwise.
    b. To the appropriate Federal, State, or local agency responsible 
for investigating, prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing a statute, 
rule, regulation, or order, when a record, either on its face or in 
conjunction with other information, indicates or is relevant to a 
violation or potential violation of civil or criminal law or 
regulation.
    c. To a member of Congress from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry made at the request of the individual to whom 
the record pertains.
    d. To the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for 
records management inspections being conducted under the authority of 
44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    e. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) OPM 
suspects or has confirmed that there has been a breach of the system of 
records, (2) OPM has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, OPM (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 OPM's efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed 
breach or to prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
    f. To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when OPM 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.
    g. To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, or volunteers 
performing or working on a contract, service, grant, cooperative 
agreement, or other assignment for OPM when OPM determines that it is 
necessary to accomplish an agency function related to this system of 
records. Individuals provided information under this routine use are 
subject to the same Privacy Act requirements and limitations on 
disclosure as are applicable to OPM employees.
    h. To a Federal agency whose current or former employees' legacy 
FEVS records are maintained in this system, when OPM determines that 
the disclosure is necessary to resolve a specific legacy survey 
administration issue or prepare a legacy survey report. OPM will 
disclose only the minimum information necessary and will use aggregate 
information when it is sufficient.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Records are stored electronically in OPM-authorized information 
systems. Access is limited to authorized personnel whose official 
duties require access to the records.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Before or during AES survey administration, OPM retrieves records 
by name, work email address, or a unique identifier. If OPM retains a 
code or linkage key that permits it to locate an individual's response 
after AES administration, that response remains retrievable by an 
individual identifier. OPM retrieves retained FEVS records by name, 
email address, or other unique identifier (SSN or equivalent personnel 
identifier) for authorized analysis and reporting, subject to current 
access controls. OPM may also search retained FEVS survey data by work 
unit or other characteristics to produce statistical results. . Removal 
of direct identifiers does not prevent individual retrieval if an 
assigned identifier or retained linkage key still permits OPM to locate 
an individual's records.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    OPM retains and disposes of AES records and legacy FEVS records 
under the applicable National Archives and Records Administration 
(NARA) Records Schedule Number N1-478-92-001.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    OPM limits access to OPM-maintained AES records to authorized 
personnel whose official duties require access. The OPM AES platform 
uses multifactor authentication, encryption, audit monitoring, security 
and privacy training, and physical safeguards. The AES platform is part 
of the TTEC Humanify Enterprise--Government (Humanify Enterprise--G) 
Platform which is FedRAMP Certified These safeguards comply with the 
Federal

[[Page 70909]]

Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, applicable OMB 
policies, and standards and guidance issued by the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology (NIST).

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking access to their records in this system may 
email a request to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fc9a93959dbc938c91d29b938a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fd9b92949cbd928d90d39a928b">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> or mail a request to the Office of 
Personnel Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer-FOIA, 
1900 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20415-0001. The email or letter should 
include the words ``Privacy Act Request,'' state that the request 
relates to ``OPM/Central-21, Annual Employee Survey,'' and clearly 
describe the requested records. To help locate the records, the request 
should identify the work email address used for the survey, if known, 
the current or former employing Federal agency, and the approximate 
survey year. Requesters must provide identity verification information 
in accordance with 5 CFR 297.201, including full name, signature, home 
address, date and place of birth, and other applicable identifying 
information. Social Security number requirements will be applied in 
accordance with 5 CFR 297.201(b)(2) for records in this system that 
include that identifier. OPM may be unable to locate an individual's 
survey response if neither direct identifiers nor retained respondent 
codes or linkage keys permit retrieval of that response by an 
individual identifier.
    Individuals requesting access must also comply with OPM's Privacy 
Act regulations regarding verification of identity and access to 
records (5 CFR 297).

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Individuals seeking to amend records about themselves may email a 
request to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9dfbf2f4fcddf2edf0b3faf2eb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5630393f371639263b78313920">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> or mail a request to the Office of Personnel 
Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer-FOIA, 1900 E Street 
NW, Washington, DC 20415-0001 and provide the record-location and 
identity-verification information described under ``Record Access 
Procedures.'' The request must precisely identify the information to be 
amended, state the requested correction and the reasons for it, and 
include available supporting documentation.
    OPM may be unable to locate an individual's survey response for 
amendment if neither direct identifiers nor retained respondent codes 
or linkage keys permit retrieval of that response by an individual 
identifier. Individuals requesting amendment must also follow OPM's 
Privacy Act regulations regarding verification of identity and 
amendment to records (5 CFR 297).

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    See ``Record Access Procedures.''

HISTORY:
    82 FR 57489 (12/05/2017).

[FR Doc. 2026-22837 Filed 11-6-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-46-P


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