Center for Federal Accountability

Justice Department proposes Privacy Act exemptions for the Bureau of Justice Statistics' data collections

The Bureau of Justice Statistics would exempt a new system of records covering its statistical data collections, which it says regularly include names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers, from the Privacy Act's access, amendment and notice provisions. Comments close November 16, 2026.

2026-10-16 · Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, Justice Department · Information · Docket CPCLO Order No. 012-2026

On October 15, 2026, the Justice Department proposed exempting a new system of records, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Statistical Data (JUSTICE/OJP-017), from several provisions of the Privacy Act (91 FR 65510, FR Doc. 2026-21060, CPCLO Order No. 012-2026). The system covers the statistical data collections BJS conducts under 34 U.S.C. 10132. Comments are due November 16, 2026. The proposal has no RIN, and regulations.gov lists it in the Department's temporary holding docket (DOJ_FRDOC_0001-0335), where no comments had been posted as of October 15, 2026. The notice creating the system of records was published in the same day's Federal Register; CFA could not read it for this article.

## What would change

The proposal would add paragraphs (c) and (d) to 28 CFR 16.100 and exempt the new system from these parts of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a: (c)(3), giving a person the accounting of who received their records; (d), a person's right to see and seek amendment of their records; (e)(1), keeping only relevant and necessary information; (e)(4)(G) and (H), the parts of a system's published notice that tell people how to learn whether it holds records about them and how to get access; and (f), the agency rules that carry out those rights (91 FR 65512). The Department claims the exemptions under 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(4), and they apply "only to the extent that records in this system are subject to exemption" under that subsection.

The proposed regulation gives one statement of reasons for all of the exemptions: to comply with the confidentiality provisions of 34 U.S.C. 10231 and 34 U.S.C. 30303, and "the requirement of 34 U.S.C. 10134 that the data is to be used solely for statistical purposes and for authorized purposes under the PREA [Prison Rape Elimination Act] and DCRA [Death in Custody Reporting Act]," and "to avoid unlawful consideration of these records whose sole statistical use comports fully with a basic purpose of the Privacy Act" (91 FR 65512).

## What the system holds

BJS describes itself as "a principal source of official statistics on crime and justice." The new system holds information from survey respondents and from administrative records kept by Federal, state, local and tribal criminal justice or governmental agencies, gathered through "questionnaires, paper and electronic surveys, interviews, focus groups, and administrative records" (91 FR 65511). The proposal says: "BJS regularly obtains records with names, dates of birth, addresses, social security numbers, and other identification numbers, to complete its statistical work" (91 FR 65511).

The Paperwork Reduction Act section says the Act "applies to some records collected as part of this system of records" and that the relevant collections have OMB control numbers, but it does not list them (91 FR 65512). The Department found the rule not significant under Executive Order 12866, so the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs did not review it, and it certified that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (91 FR 65511).

## CFA's observations

These are CFA's observations from the text, not findings about how the system is run.

The proposal calls BJS Statistical Data a new system of records. BJS's collections are not new, and the proposal does not say how its statistical records were covered before this notice, whether by another system of records notice, an earlier exemption, or neither.

The exemptions rest on the records' "sole statistical use," but the summary says the data "are to be used for authorized purposes under" the Prison Rape Elimination Act and the Death in Custody Reporting Act in addition to statistical purposes, and the regulation text repeats it (91 FR 65510-65512). The proposal does not describe those authorized purposes or say whether they are statistical.

The proposal states its central safeguard two ways. The summary says "no adverse determinations are made from these records as to any identifiable individual" (91 FR 65511); the proposed regulation says "no adverse disclosures are made from these records as to any identifiable individual" (91 FR 65512). A determination about a person and a disclosure about a person are different things, and the proposal does not say which it means or whether it means both.

The system holds Social Security numbers and other identifiers, and the proposal does not mention a privacy impact assessment for it.

Both amending instructions are numbered "1." (91 FR 65512): one restates the authority citation for part 16 and the other adds the new paragraphs to section 16.100.

This is the second Justice Department proposal this month to exempt a newly created system of records from parts of the Privacy Act, after the Office of the Pardon Attorney's firearms rights restoration database (91 FR 64125, October 7, 2026). The Executive Office for Immigration Review published a third, for its fraud program records, on the same day as this one (91 FR 65512).

## CFA's records on the Justice Department

CFA does not yet grade the Justice Department on its agency scoreboard. The government-wide grade is "Minor," with a composite score of 83.38 across 8 areas. CFA's system of records analysis counts 482 Justice Department notices in the Federal Register export as of the October 15, 2026 refresh, up from 480 in the previous refresh, ranking it 14th among agencies with 2.2 percent of all notices. CFA's privacy notice and assessment linkage report has crawled 261 Justice Department privacy impact assessment pages. CFA has not checked whether any of them covers this system.

## What to watch

Whether the companion system of records notice lists routine uses that allow disclosure for anything other than statistical work, and how it describes the Prison Rape Elimination Act and Death in Custody Reporting Act uses.

Whether the final rule settles whether the safeguard is "no adverse determinations" or "no adverse disclosures."

Whether the Department publishes a privacy impact assessment for the system, and names the information collections and OMB control numbers it covers.

## How to comment

Comments are due November 16, 2026, and must cite CPCLO Order No. 012-2026. They can be filed at regulations.gov (document DOJ_FRDOC_0001-0335) before midnight Eastern time that day; sent by email to the address given in the notice; faxed to 202-307-0693; or mailed to the United States Department of Justice, Justice Management Division, Office of the General Counsel, Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties, ATTN: Privacy Analyst, 2 Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, Suite 8W.300, Washington, DC 20530. Mailed comments are on time if postmarked by the closing date. Comments are posted publicly unless marked as the notice describes. Questions about the system go to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 999 N Capitol St. NE, Washington, DC 20531, with "BJS SORN" in the subject line.

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