Treasury Wants Fraud Tip Database Exempt from Privacy Act Rules
Published Date: 6/17/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
The Department of the Treasury wants to protect a new system that handles tips about waste, fraud, and misuse of federal money by exempting it from some Privacy Act rules. This change helps keep investigations safe and private. If you have thoughts, send your comments by July 17, 2026—no cost or big hassle involved!
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Limits on Access and Amendment Rights
Treasury proposes exempting the new "Treasury .032—Federal Program Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Tip Intake and Referral Records" system from Privacy Act provisions that give people access to or the ability to amend records about themselves. Specifically, the proposal would exempt records under 5 U.S.C. 552a(c)(3) and (d), so individuals named in tips, complaints, or referrals may not get accounting of disclosures, access to their records, or be allowed to request changes to those records.
Retention of Broad or Unverified Information
Treasury says it may keep tips and related information even when the relevance or accuracy is not immediately clear while it assesses and triages reports from www.fraud.gov. The proposal exempts the system from 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(1), allowing Treasury to retain information that may help identify patterns, schemes, relationships, or trends relevant to suspected waste, fraud, or misuse of Federal funds.
No Publication of Access Procedures
Treasury proposes exempting this system from the Privacy Act requirements to publish procedures for determining whether records exist, how to access them, how to contest them, and categories of sources (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)(G), (H), (I), and (f)). That means Treasury may not publish the usual procedural notices that tell people how to find out if they are in the system or how to challenge records.
Small Entities Not Economically Affected
Treasury certifies under the Regulatory Flexibility Act that this proposed Privacy Act exemption "will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities." The notice also states that small entities are outside the scope of rights under the Privacy Act for this rulemaking.
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