§5.25. Administrative appeals for access requests. — Inbound Citations

(c) Within 90 working days after the date of the component's response, the requester may appeal a denial of a request for amendment or correction to the Component Appeals Officer or the DHS Office of the General Counsel or its designee. The Component Appeals Officer or the DHS Office of the General Counsel or its designee must complete its review and make a final determination on the requester's appeal no later than 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) from the date on which the individual requests such review unless good cause is shown, and communicated to the individual, for which the 30-day period may be extended for an additional 30 days. If the appeal is denied, the requester will be advised of the right to file a Statement of Disagreement as described in paragraph (d) of this section and of the right under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(3), for court review of the decision. If an individual wishes to seek review by a court of any adverse determination or denial of a request, that individual must first appeal it under this subpart. For purposes of responding to a JRA amendment request, a covered person is subject to the same limitations, including exemptions and exceptions, as an individual is subject to under section 552a of title 5, United States Code, when pursuing amendment to records. The implementing regulations and reasons provided for exemptions can be found in appendix C to this part, titled DHS Systems of Records Exempt from the Privacy Act.

(c) A requester may appeal a denial of a request for an accounting to the Component Appeals Officer or the DHS Office of the General Counsel or its designee in the same manner as a denial of a request for access to records (see § 5.25) and the same procedures will be followed.