FOIA & Privacy Act — Civil Liberties
- Electronic Reading Room
- Freedom of Information Act Program
- Defense Privacy Office / Defense Security Service Notices Table of Contents
- Amendment - Correction Instruction
- DoD FOIA Handbook
- Civil Liberties
***Public Notice***: A must read for those individuals requesting records.
On February 2, 2010, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed that transferred certain personnel security IT systems from the Defense Security Service (DSS) to the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). The IT systems transferred included the Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS), the Defense Central Index of Investigations (DCII), the Secure Web Fingerprint Transmission (SWFT), and the DSS investigative Records Repository (IRR).
As a result of the above referenced MOA/transfer, the DSS Office of Freedom of Information and Privacy (FOIA/PA) will no longer be processing Freedom of Information/Privacy Act requests for investigative or adjudicative records maintained in the IRR, DCII, SWFT, or JPAS. Effective February 28, 2011, all such FOIA/PA requests for records maintained in these IT systems should be submitted to the DMDC Office of Privacy at:
Defense Manpower Data Center
ATTN: Privacy Act Branch
P.O. Box 168
Boyers, PA 16020-0168
In laymen terms, DSS no longer maintains any personnel security investigative records, to include clearance adjudicative records, JPAS, and SF-86s (e-QIP) on DoD employees or DoD contractor personnel. Personnel Security Investigation (PSI) records which had been maintained by DSS prior to the transfer of function to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2005 have been transferred to DMDC's Investigative Records Repository (IRR). Therefore, individual's seeking these DSS PSI records completed before February 2005 or agencies referring such records in response to a FOIA/PA, should submit their request directly to DMDC at the address listed above. Individuals seeking background investigative records on themselves, to include SF-86S (e-QIP) records, completed by OPM after February 2005, should submit their FOIA/PA request directly to OPM at: OPM-FIPC, P.O. Box 618, 1137 Branchton Road, Boyers, PA 16018-0618. Individuals seeking security clearance adjudicative information maintained in the JPAS system should be submitting their request directly to DMDC. JPAS records would include such things as incident reports, current and past clearance status, and past clearance adjudication history.
In addition to the above, the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO), which had been an adjudicative facility for DoD contractor personnel under DSS, migrated to the DoD Central Adjudication Facility (DoD CAF) in October 2012. As a result of this migration, DISCO is no longer under the authority of DSS. The DoD CAF falls under the authority, direction and control of the Director of Administration and Management. Therefore, DSS cannot address questions related to clearance determinations made by the DoD CAF. However, when the requirements for an “Interim” determination have not been met, DSS will post in the individuals JPAS record an “Eligibility Pending” and defer adjudication until the completion of the requested investigation. Individuals having questions pertaining to an Eligibility Pending should follow the guidance posted in: Industrial Personnel Security Clearance Process .
Freedom of Information Office (FOIA)
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (Title 5 United States Code 552, as amended) generally provides that any person has a right, enforceable in court, of access to Federal agency records, except to the extent that such records (or portions thereof) are protected from release/disclosure by one of the nine FOIA exemptions or by one of the three special law enforcement record exclusions. The FOIA website provides policies and procedures for the DSS implementation of the FOIA, complete with electronic links to the types and categories of DSS information available.
Due to the transfer of the personnel security investigations (PSI) function to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on February 20, 2005, any request for copies of investigations completed after February 20, 2005, should be mailed to the Office of Personnel Management at: OPM-FIPC, P.O. BOX 618, 1137 Branchton Road, Boyers, PA 16018-0618.
Privacy Act
The purpose of the Privacy Act (PA) (Title 5 United States Code 552a), is to balance the government's need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of those individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of their privacy stemming from Federal agencies' collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information about them. Individuals seeking access to DSS records about themselves must submit a written Privacy Act request to the Defense Security Service, Office of FOIA/PA, 27130 Telegraph Road, Quantico, VA 22134. The request must be signed and contain your full name, Social Security Number, and address where you want the records returned. The request must also reasonably describe the records you are seeking. Your signed Privacy Act request can also be faxed to DSS at (571) 305-6931 or scanned into an email and sent to FOIA@dss.mil. DSS will not address written inquiries that are not signed by the requester. Inquiries into the status of a Privacy Act or FOIA request can be sent to the above listed email addresses.
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