{408.44 Privacy Act of 1974.

(a) The Privacy Act of 1974 addresses records containing personal information about individuals. The PA requires that when a federal agency maintains records on an individual, the records must be maintained in a Privacy Act System of Records, which is approved by the Office of Management and Budget and published in the Federal Register. NRCS has systems of records for its owner, operator, or producer files, volunteers, and employees. Employees whose duties require handling records in these systems must, at all times, protect the integrity, security, and confidentiality of these records. Employees must exercise care so that information contained in these files is not inadvertently disclosed to families, friends, or others who have no need to know. Keep all private information in secure areas when not in use during office hours.

(b) District conservationists are the system managers for owner, operator, producer, or participant files in their offices. They should be familiar with the system, which is described in Section 408.45. When records are used for the seven "routine uses" listed in the system, no other authority is needed.

(c) The fact that records are in a Privacy Act System of Records does not necessarily mean that they will not be released under FOIA. Use common sense in the type of information placed in a file.

(d) Persons responsible for handling records should also be familiar with the criminal sanctions in the Privacy Act:

(1) Unauthorized disclosure. An employee, contractor, or consultant of NRCS having access to NRCS records that contain individually identifiable information who discloses, publicly releases, publishes, or causes to be published to any person may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to one year.

(2) Failure to publish public notice. Any employee who willfully maintains a system of records without meeting the public notice requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor and may be fined up to $5,000. Do not maintain any files on individuals other than those listed in the NRCS Records Guide.

(3) Obtaining records under false pretenses. Any individual who willfully requests or obtains any record concerning an individual from NRCS under false pretenses is guilty of a misdemeanor and may be fined up to $5,000.