[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17738-17741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7988]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Privacy Act System of Records

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission).

ACTION: Notice; one altered Privacy Act system of records; revision of 
one routine use; and addition of one new routine use.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to subsection (e)(4) of the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended (Privacy Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a, the FCC proposes to change the 
name of and alter one system of records, FCC/OSP-1, ``Broadband Dead 
Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test'' (formerly FCC/OMD-27, 
``Broadband Unavailability Survey and Broadband Quality Test''). The 
altered system of records incorporates a change to the system's name. 
The FCC will also alter the system's location; the categories of 
individuals; the categories of records; the purposes for which the 
information is maintained; one routine use (and add a new routine use); 
the retrievability, access, safeguards, and retention and disposal 
procedures; the system manager and address; the record source 
categories; and make other edits and revisions as necessary to update 
the information and to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

DATES: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11) of the 
Privacy Act, any interested person may submit written comments 
concerning the alteration of this system of records on or before May 7, 
2010. Pursuant to Appendix I, 4(e) of OMB Circular A-130, the FCC is 
asking the Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
(OIRA), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has oversight 
responsibility under the Privacy Act to review system of records 
notices (SORN), to grant a waiver of the 40 day review period by OMB 
and Congress for this system of records. The FCC is requesting this 
waiver to permit the sharing of the information in this system with the 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and 
the NTIA State Designated Entities for the 56 State Broadband Data and 
Development Grant Programs in order to save resources, time, avoid 
duplication, synthesize methodology, and gather accurate availability 
information. The proposed altered system of records will become 
effective on May 7, 2010 unless the FCC receives comments that require 
a contrary determination. The Commission will publish a document in the 
Federal Register notifying the public if any changes are necessary. As 
required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) of the Privacy Act, the FCC is submitting 
reports on this proposed altered system to OMB and Congress.

ADDRESSES: Address comments to Leslie F. Smith, Privacy Analyst, 
Performance Evaluation and Records Management (PERM), Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20554, or via the Internet at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leslie F. Smith, Performance 
Evaluation and Records Management (PERM), Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554, (202) 
418-0217, or via the Internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, as 
amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11), this document sets forth 
notice of the proposed alteration of one system of records maintained 
by the FCC, revision of one routine use, and addition of one new 
routine use. The FCC previously gave complete notice of the system of 
records (FCC/OMD-27, ``Broadband Unavailability Survey and Broadband 
Quality Test'') covered under this Notice by publication in the Federal 
Register on December 30, 2009 (74 FR 69098). This notice is a summary 
of the more detailed information about the proposed altered system of 
records, which may be viewed at the location given above in the 
``ADDRESSES'' section. The purposes for altering FCC/OSP-1, ``Broadband 
Dead Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test'' are to change the name 
of the system; to change the system location; to revise the categories 
of individuals; to revise the categories of records; to revise the 
purposes for which the information is maintained; to revise one routine 
use

[[Page 17739]]

and add a new routine use; to revise the retrievability, access, 
safeguards, and retention and disposal procedures; to change the system 
manager and address; to change the record source categories; and to 
make other edits and revisions as necessary to update the information 
and to comply with the Privacy Act.
    The FCC will achieve these purposes by altering this system of 
records with these changes:
    Revision of the title of this system, for clarity and to note that 
this system has been moved from the Office of Managing Director (OMD) 
to the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP);
    Revision of the language in the system location, for clarity and to 
note that that this system has been moved from the Office of Managing 
Director (OMD) to the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP);
    Revision of the language regarding the categories of individuals in 
the system, for clarity and to add that the categories of individuals 
include individuals who participate in the Broadband Dead Zone Report 
voluntary survey and individuals who participate in the voluntary 
Consumer Broadband Test.
    Revision of the language regarding the categories of records in the 
system, for clarity and to add that the categories of records include 
the street address, city, state, and zip code of each individual who 
selects to participate in the Broadband Dead Zone Report survey and 
each individual who participates in the Internet service Consumer 
Broadband Test; and that (A)dditionally the Consumer Broadband Test 
also collects the ``Internet Protocol (IP) address'' for each user who 
selects to participate;
    Revision of the language regarding the purposes for which the 
information is maintained, for clarity and to add that the Commission 
uses the records in this system collected from the Broadband Dead Zone 
Report and the Consumer Broadband Test to determine the access of US 
residents to broadband--cable, and DSL, fiber, mobile wireless, and 
other broadband services, and to gather data on the quality of the 
broadband services being provided; that (T)he Consumer Broadband Test 
permits users to measure the quality of their fixed or mobile Internet 
broadband connection; that (I)ndividual street addresses and IP 
addresses will not be made public by the FCC, but aggregated or 
anonymized data from the database may be made public; that 
(A)dditionally, IP address may be shared with FCC software partners as 
part of the Consumer Broadband Test application; that (T)hese partners 
may publish the IP address and broadband performance data to the public 
(but the IP address will not be associated with a street address); and 
that (t)hese data may be used to inform implementation of the National 
Broadband Plan, the National Broadband Map and other proceedings 
related to the provisioning of broadband services;
    Revision of Routine Use (7) to incorporate the change in the title 
of this system, Broadband Dead Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test 
in this routine use.
    Routine Use (7) allows that disclosure of the information collected 
through the Broadband Dead Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test, 
with the exception of any personally identifiable information (PII), 
may be shared with public-public-private partnerships and with the 
Telecommunications Program of the United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Agency. This sharing regime is 
described in the Commission's Broadband Data Order of 2008 (FCC 08-89).
    Addition of a new Routine Use (8) to allow information collected 
through the Broadband Dead Zone Report and the Consumer Broadband Test, 
including the personally identifiable information (PII), to be shared 
with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) and the 56 State Designated Entities for the State Broadband 
Data & Development Grant Program:
    Routine Use (8) allows that disclosure of the information collected 
through the Broadband Dead Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test, 
including the personally identifiable information (PII), may be shared 
with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) and the 56 State Designated Entities for the State Broadband 
Data & Development Grant Program, who are tasked with gathering 
broadband availability information that will be delivered to the FCC 
and NTIA for compilation into the National Broadband Map. Any PII 
shared with these entities will be disclosed under the rules of the 
agreement between NTIA and the state grantees governing the protection 
of sensitive, protected, or classified data collected pursuant to the 
grant program. The NTIA and the state grantees will not make any PII 
publicly available.
    Revision of the language regarding the policies and practices for 
retrieving the records in this system, for clarity and to add a fourth 
response to the broadband Internet access question: (4) the 
individual's IP address; and to incorporate the change in the system's 
title so that (f)urthermore, the information may be retrieved and/or 
aggregated based upon other Consumer Broadband Test variables, such as 
broadband speed, latency, jitter, and packet loss, among other 
broadband quality variables;
    Revision of the language regarding the policies and practices for 
accessing and safeguarding the records in this system, for clarity and 
to incorporate the change in the system's title to the Broadband Dead 
Zone Report or Consumer Broadband Test's database; and to add that 
(a)ccess to the information housed in the Dead Zone Report or the 
Consumer Broadband Test database, which is housed in the FCC's computer 
network databases, is restricted to authorized supervisors and staff in 
the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP) and the Information Technology 
Center's (ITC) Planning and Support Group, who maintain these computer 
databases. Additionally, staff of the National Broadband Map may be 
granted access to this data.
    Revision of the language regarding the policies and practices for 
the retention and disposal of the records in this system, for clarity 
and to incorporate the change in the system's title thus, the 
information in the system is limited to electronic files, records, and 
data, which pertains to the Broadband Dead Zone Report, which includes: 
(1) The information obtained from individuals who participated in the 
Consumer Broadband Test;
    Revision of the language regarding the system manager and address, 
notification, record access, and contesting record procedures, to 
incorporate the change in the system manager from the Office of 
Managing Director (OMD) to the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP); and 
that it is OSP to whom inquiries, notification procedures, record 
access procedures, and contesting records procedures should be 
addressed; and
    Revision of the language regarding the record source categories, 
for clarity and to incorporate the change in the system's name, and 
that the sources for the information in this system are the Broadband 
Dead Zone Report survey respondents and the Consumer Broadband Test 
participants.
    The Commission will use the records in FCC/OSP-1, ``Broadband Dead 
Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test,'' which are collected from the 
Broadband Dead Zone Report and the Consumer Broadband Test to determine 
the access of US residents to broadband--cable, and DSL, fiber, mobile 
wireless, and other broadband services, and to gather data on the 
quality of the broadband services being provided. The Consumer 
Broadband Test permits users to

[[Page 17740]]

measure the quality of their fixed or mobile Internet broadband 
connection. Individual street addresses will not be made public, but 
aggregated or anonymized data from the database may be made public. 
These data may be used to inform implementation of the National 
Broadband Plan, the National Broadband Map and other proceedings 
related to the provisioning of broadband services.
    This notice meets the requirement of documenting the changes to 
this system of records that the FCC maintains, and provides the public, 
OMB, and Congress an opportunity to comment.
FCC/OSP-1

SYSTEM NAME:
    Broadband Dead Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    The FCC's Security Operations Center (SOC) has not assigned a 
security classification to this system of records.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Office of Strategic Planning (OSP), Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The categories of individuals in this system include individuals 
who participate in the Broadband Dead Zone Report voluntary survey and 
individuals who participate in voluntary Consumer Broadband Test.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The categories of records in this system include the street 
address, city, state, zip code, and the Internet Protocol (IP) address 
of each individual who selects to participate in the Broadband Dead 
Zone Report survey and each individual who participates in the Internet 
service Consumer Broadband Test. Additionally, the Consumer Broadband 
Test also collects the ``Internet Protocol (IP) address'' of each user 
who selects to participate.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008, Public Law 110-385, Stat 
4096 section 103(c)(1); American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 
(ARRA), Pub. L. 111-5, 123 Stat 115 (2009); and Communications Act, 47 
U.S.C. 154(i).

PURPOSES:
    The Commission uses the records in this system collected from the 
Broadband Dead Zone Report and the Consumer Broadband Test to determine 
the access of U.S. residents to broadband--cable, and DSL, fiber, 
mobile wireless, and other broadband services, and to gather data on 
the quality of the broadband services being provided. The Consumer 
Broadband Test permits users to measure the quality of their fixed or 
mobile Internet broadband connection. Individual street addresses and 
IP addresses will not be made public by the FCC, but aggregated or 
anonymized data from the database may be made public. Additionally, IP 
addresses may be shared with FCC software partners as part of the 
Consumer Broadband Test application. These partners may publish the IP 
address and broadband performance data to the public (but the IP 
address will not be associated with a street address). These data may 
be used to inform implementation of the National Broadband Plan, the 
National Broadband Map and other proceedings related to the 
provisioning of broadband services.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    Information about individuals in this system of records may 
routinely be disclosed under the following conditions:
    1. Where there is an indication of a violation or potential 
violation of a statute, regulation, rule, or order, records from this 
system may be referred to the appropriate Federal, State, or local 
agency responsible for investigating or prosecuting a violation or for 
implementing or enforcing the statute, rule, regulation, or order.
    2. A record on an individual in this system of records may be 
disclosed, where pertinent, in any legal proceeding to which the 
Commission is a party before a court or administrative body.
    3. A record from this system of records may be disclosed to the 
Department of Justice or in a proceeding before a court or adjudicative 
body when:
    (a) The United States, the Commission, a component of the 
Commission, or, when represented by the government, an employee of the 
Commission is a party to litigation or anticipated litigation or has an 
interest in such litigation, and
    (b) The Commission determines that the disclosure is relevant or 
necessary to the litigation.
    4. A record on an individual in this system of records may be 
disclosed to a Congressional office in response to an inquiry the 
individual has made to the Congressional office.
    5. A record from this system of records may be disclosed to General 
Services Administration (GSA) and the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) for the purpose of records management inspections 
conducted under authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906. Such disclosure 
shall not be used to make a determination about individuals.
    6. A record from this system may be disclosed to appropriate 
agencies, entities, and persons when (1) the Commission suspects or has 
confirmed that the security or confidentiality of information in the 
system of records has been compromised; (2) the Commission has 
determined that as a result of the suspected or confirmed compromise 
there is a risk of harm to economic or property interests, identity 
theft or fraud, or harm to the security or integrity of this system or 
other systems or programs (whether maintained by the Commission or 
another agency or entity) that rely upon the compromised information; 
and (3) the disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is 
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with the Commission's 
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and 
prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
    7. The information collected through the Broadband Dead Zone Report 
and Consumer Broadband Test, with the exception of any personally 
identifiable information (PII), may be shared with public-private 
partnerships and with the Telecommunications Program of the United 
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Agency. This 
sharing regime is described in the Commission's Broadband Data Order of 
2008 (FCC 08-89).
    8. The information collected through the Broadband Dead Zone Report 
and Consumer Broadband Test, including the personally identifiable 
information (PII), may be shared with the National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration (NTIA) and the 56 State Designated 
Entities for the State Broadband Data & Development Grant Program, who 
are tasked with gathering broadband availability information that will 
be delivered to the FCC and NTIA for compilation into the National 
Broadband Map. Any PII shared with these entities will be disclosed 
under the rules of the agreement between NTIA and the state grantees 
governing the protection of sensitive, protected, or classified data 
collected pursuant to the grant program. The NTIA and the state 
grantees will not make any PII publicly available.
    In each of these cases, the FCC will determine whether disclosure 
of the

[[Page 17741]]

records is compatible with the purpose for which the records were 
collected.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    None.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    The information includes the electronic data and records that are 
stored in the FCC's computer network databases.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Information in the Broadband Dead Zone Report and Consumer 
Broadband Test system may be retrieved by the responses to the 
broadband Internet access questions: (1) Broadband access (yes/no); (2) 
broadband service availability (check boxes for types of broadband 
services available at an individual's home); (3) the individual's home 
address: Street address, city, state, and zip code; and (4) the 
individual's IP address. Furthermore, the information may be retreived 
and/or aggregated based upon other Consumer Broadband Test variables, 
such as broadband speed, latency, jitter, and packet loss, among other 
broadband quality variables.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Access to the information in the Broadband Dead Zone Report or the 
Consumer Broadband Test database, which is housed in the FCC's computer 
network databases, is restricted to authorized supervisors and staff in 
the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP) and the Information Technology 
Center's (ITC) Planning and Support Group, who maintain these computer 
databases. Additionally, staff of the National Broadband Map may be 
granted access to this data. Other FCC employees and contractors may be 
granted access on a ``need-to-know'' basis. The FCC's computer network 
databases are protected by the FCC's security protocols, which include 
controlled access, passwords, and other security features. Information 
resident on the database servers is backed-up routinely onto magnetic 
media. Back-up tapes are stored on-site and at a secured, off-site 
location.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    The information in this system is limited to electronic files, 
records, and data, which pertains to the Dead Zone Report, which 
includes:
    (1) The information obtained from individuals who participated in 
the Consumer Information survey; and
    (2) The information obtained from individuals who participated in 
the Consumer Broadband Test.
    Until the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 
approves the retention and disposal schedule, these records will be 
treated as permanent.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
    Address inquiries to the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP), 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    Address inquiries to the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP), 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Address inquiries to the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP), 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Address inquiries to the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP), 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The sources for the information in this system are the Broadband 
Dead Zone Report survey respondents and Consumer Broadband Test 
participants.

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-7988 Filed 4-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P