Handbook AS-353, Guide to Privacy, the Freedom of Information Act, and Records Management

February 2019

Summary of Changes Transmittal Letter 1 Introduction 1-1 Purpose of This Handbook 1-2 Customer Trust and Privacy Protection 1-3 Handbook Application 1-4 Roles and Responsibilities 1-5 Definitions 2 Laws, Guidelines, and Policies 2-1 The Best of Public and Private Practices 2-2 Mail Protections 2-3 Federal Laws 2-4 Federal Agency Guidelines 2-5 Postal Service Policies 3 Protecting Individual Privacy 3-1 Overview 3-2 Maintaining a System of Records 3-3 Collecting Personal Information 3-4 Providing a Privacy Notice to Individuals 3-5 Respecting Communication Preferences 3-6 Requests for Amendment 3-7 Legal Agreements Involving Personal Information 3-8 Special Privacy Requirements 3-9 Business Information 4 Records Notification, Access, and Disclosure Procedures Under the Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act 4-1 General 4-2 Public Records and Information Under FOIA 4-3 Responding to Notification, Access, and Disclosure Requests Under the Privacy Act 4-4 Responding to Requests Under the Freedom of Information Act

5 Requests for Special Categories of Records 5-1 General 5-2 Requests for Employee or Customer Information 5-3 Congressional Requests 5-4 Records Subject to Litigation 5-5 Records Requested by Postal Service Unions 5-6 Records Requested by the News Media 5-7 Requests to Conduct Research or to Survey Postal Service Employees 6 Records Management 6-1 Records Management Policy 6-2 Records Creation and Designation Guidelines 6-3 Retention 6-4 Storage and Retrieval 6-5 Disposal 6-6 Separation Procedure (Employee or Non-Employee Available) 6-7 Records Subject to Litigation and Legal Holds Addendum: Guide for Requesters Part I. Privacy Act Requests Part II. FOIA Requests Appendix Section A. Explanation Section B. Privacy Act Protections Section C. Index of Systems of Records Section D. Authorized Disclosures and Routine Uses Section E. Complete Text of Systems of Records Survey — Tell Us Your Thoughts!