ARS Emergency Readiness
Employee Emergency Contact Information
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act (PA) Office provides the following guidance for collecting, maintaining, and using emergency contact information on current employees and/or contractors and consultants in case of an emergency.
The PA authorizes agency personnel who have a need for the information in the performance of their duties to collect and maintain emergency contact information for the purpose of effectively and efficiently communicating with employees, contractors, and/or consultants in an emergency situation. Emergency contact information may include home address, home telephone number, personal email address, and personal cell phone number. Only information that is relevant and necessary to accomplish the designated purpose should be collected. The Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) PA System of Records, OPM/GOVT-1, General Personnel Records, gives the authority for collecting and maintaining emergency contact information that is required by agency employees who have a need for the information in the performance of their duties.
The information should be collected to the greatest extent possible directly from the employee. The employee should be informed of the authority for soliciting the information, whether providing the information is voluntary or mandatory, the principle purpose for which the information will be used, the effects of not providing any or all parts of the requested information, and how the information will be maintained.
The information collected may not be circulated among co-workers, posted on a bulletin board, posted on a website, disclosed to the public, or used for any other purpose other than the purpose for which it was collected.
Questions regarding this guidance should be addressed to Stasia Hutchison, FOIA/PA Officer, USDA-ARS-IS, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705-5128; telephone number 301-504-1655; email: stasia.hutchison@ars.usda.gov or reefoia@ars.usda.gov.
