MS 291: Disclosure and Use of Volunteer Addresses

Date: 05/31/84
Office: D/GCLL
Supersedes: MS 283, 8/11/7282

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1.0 Purpose

The purpose of this order is to establish policies and procedures governing the disclosure and use of Volunteer addresses, both within and outside the Agency.

2.0 Applicability

2.1 Programs and Participants Covered

Provisions of this order govern the disclosure and use of all applicant, Volunteer and Trainee duty and non-duty station addresses, address lists, and labels engendered or controlled by any program or staff activity within Peace Corps.
This includes the mailing addresses for Peace Corps applicants, Volunteers and Trainees.

2.2 "Volunteer Addresses" Defined

For the purposes of this order, the term "Volunteer address" is normally understood to include applicant, Trainee, and related addresses unless otherwise specified in the text.

It is also understood to mean the minimum information required to mail material to a specific location with accuracy. This would include identifying the person, street, house or apartment number, city, state, ZIP Code, embassy locations, countries, and so forth.

No other information about or referring to the addressee should appear within or near the body of the address, except such codes as the Agency may deem necessary to properly maintain its files, and identify the individuals thereon.

3.0 Offices of Primary Responsibility

3.1 Definition and Duties

The office of primary responsibility (OPR) is the office charged with continuing responsibility for administering a specific program area.
As part of that responsibility, it maintains the duty and non-duty station mailing addresses of its Volunteers, and regularly advises the Computer Services Division, Office of Administrative Services (M/AS/CS) of any changes in those addresses.

3.2 Delegation of Authority

Office Directors may delegate authority to approve or disapprove requests for Volunteer address lists or labels, but not below the Division Director or equivalent level.

A copy of the memorandum authorizing the delegation, or a list of personnel so authorized, must be forwarded to the Office of the General Counsel (D/GCLL), the Computer Services Division (M/AS/CS) and the General Services Division (M/AS/GS).

3.3 Responsibilities

The office of primary responsibility is responsible for the initial review, approval, or disapproval of all internal and external requests for the mailing address lists or labels of the Volunteers within its program area.

4.0 Office of the General Counsel

The General Counsel must review and concur in all OPR-approved internal and external requests for the mailing addresses or labels of Volunteers. Requests disapproved by the General Counsel may not be granted.

5.0 Computer Services Division

The Computer Services Division (M/AS/CS) is responsible for furnishing the required Volunteer address lists or labels to the office of primary responsibility, once it has determined that the request is fully in order and all appropriate approvals have been obtained.

6.0 Administrative Services Division

The General Services Division (M/AS/G) is responsible for providing distribution and mailing services for Agency publications, releases, and issuances which routinely use or require Volunteer mailing lists. When performed by a contractor, it obtains such services by preparing the necessary task orders.

Accordingly, it is responsible for releasing Volunteer mailing lists and labels to the contractor, and insuring that the approvals of the office of primary responsibility and the General Counsel have been obtained for all such routine releases.

7.0 Address Release Policy

7.1 General

Under no circumstances may non-duty address lists or labels of active or returned Volunteers, or of Volunteer applicants, be provided for political or commercial purposes.

7.2 Active Volunteers

It is the policy of Peace Corps that the regular duty station mailing addresses of active Peace Corps and Trainees are public knowledge, and should be disclosed freely.

7.3 Returned Volunteers and Volunteer Applicants

The policy of Peace Corps is that the non-duty mailing address lists or labels of returned Volunteers and of Volunteer applicants may be disclosed only under very limited circumstances, and then only in accordance with the procedures contained in this directive.

8.0 Duty and Non-duty Stations

8.1 Duty Station Addresses

The duty station address of Peace Corps Volunteers is usually that of the training site or an overseas embassy.

The mailing address of a Volunteer or Trainee will normally be the duty station address of the office or organization having direct responsibility for overseeing the field activities of the Volunteer. Duty station addresses, however, may be identical to the residence address of the Volunteer.

Since the home address of a Volunteer may also be used as the duty station mailing address, discretion must be exercised in determining when to release those addresses.

8.2 Non-Duty Station Addresses

Non-duty station addresses include the home, working, and mailing addresses of returned or inactive Volunteers, of Volunteer applicants, and of the next of kin of Volunteers and Trainees.

9.0 Offices of Primary Responsibility (OPR)

As indicated, the offices listed below are responsible for maintaining and updating the mailing addresses of Volunteers and Trainees within their program areas, and for reviewing, approving, or disapproving all internal and external requests for the release of Volunteer address lists or labels.

10.0 Offices Within Peace Corps

10.1 Obtaining Address Lists From Other Offices

Any office requiring Volunteer address lists or labels for official purposes from another program area may obtain them by forwarding a request to the office of primary responsibility, as prescribed in paragraph 14.

10.2 Obtaining Address Lists for Internal Office Use of the OPR

An OPR may obtain address lists or labels covering the Volunteers within its prescribed area of responsibility, as needed, for internal official purposes.

It may not obtain such address lists or labels for unofficial purposes as for distribution and use external to the OPR without the concurrence of the General Counsel or without fully complying with procedures outlined in paragraph 14.

11.0 Special Criteria for Certain Offices

Because of the nature of their responsibilities and needs, certain Peace Corps offices require and, as specified below, will be granted special access to Volunteer address lists or labels.

11.1 Office of Public Affairs

The Office of Public Affairs may provide non-duty station address lists of up to 30 returned Volunteers to newspaper reporters for the purpose of writing articles about the Agency's Volunteer service programs or the work of returned Volunteers, provided that it first contacts the returned Volunteers involved to obtain their permission.

Lists of more than 30 names may be provided only on approvals of the OPR and the General Counsel.

11.2 Returned Volunteer Services

Returned Volunteer Services prepares rosters of returning Volunteers interested in being considered for scholarships and employment.
The returning Volunteers must have authorized the inclusion of their names and addresses on these rosters. The following statement must appear on the cover letter of each such roster:

"The Volunteers listed in the attached roster have given their permission for their names and addresses to be distributed solely for the purpose of making known to employers and schools their interest in a particular field of Post-Volunteer work or study. Accordingly, we ask that this roster be closely held by you and used for no other purpose. Any request for additional copies should be directed to us, stating the reason for the request. We trust that you will understand that these requests are motivated solely by a desire to provide maximum protection for the privacy of the Volunteers."

11.3 Office of Placement (MRPS/P)

The Office of Placement may provide its employees with lists of the non-duty station addresses of returned or inactive Volunteer to draw upon to assist in recruiting Volunteers and making speeches about Peace Corps and its Volunteer programs.

Each roster provided to Placement Office employees must be numbered and a list of their whereabouts kept by Placement. Rosters may only be released to employees who have a demonstrated need to use them. Out-of-date rosters should be returned to the Office of Placement for destruction.

All rosters provided to Placement employees must have the following statement on the first page:

"It is vital that this roster be closely held in order to provide the maximum protection for the privacy of the individuals concerned. It is intended for use only in connection with authorized Peace Corps recruiting activities and is not to be made available to anyone other than designated Peace Corps officers."

12.0 Requests From Friends and Relatives

If a friend or relative writes Peace Corps requesting the address of a returned Volunteer, the office of primary responsibility will notify the Volunteer of the request. This will afford him or her the option of contacting the party making the request.

Requests for five or more addresses must be treated in accordance with the procedures detailed in paragraph 14.

13.0 Requests From Other Persons, Groups, Organizations, or Contractors

Under certain circumstances, address lists of returned Volunteers will be provided to persons, groups. organizations, or contractors outside the Agency.
An example would be the request of an embassy representing a country with a Peace Corps program for a list of the Volunteers who served in that country. Another would be the request of a Peace Corps Service Council for a list of returned Volunteers in the area covered by that council.

All such requests are processed as detailed in paragraph 14. All address lists and labels provided to persons, groups, organizations, or contractors outside the Agency must contain a statement stressing the confidentiality of the material and limitations on its distribution and use,in order to protect the Volunteer's privacy.

14.0 Procedures for Obtaining, Using, and Disclosing Volunteer Address Lists and Labels

14.1 Internal Requests

Offices within the Peace Corps having need of Volunteer address lists or labels should prepare Peace Corps Form PC-1457, "Request for Data Processing Services" (Attachment A) and forward it to the office of primary responsibility.

Offices needing fewer than 20 addresses of returned Volunteers may obtain them by consulting the microfilm tapes in the Office of Returned Volunteer Services (M/SS), or by requesting them from the appropriate office of primary responsibility.

14.2 External Requests

When a source outside the Agency requests a Volunteer address list or labels, the office of primary responsibility will prepare Peace Corps Form PC-1457 and a justification statement based on the information furnished by the requestor.

14.3 Review by Office of Primary Responsibility

The OPR reviews the request, and approves or disapproves. Should it approve, it will so indicate on the original of Peace Corps Form PC-1457, and forward the form to the General Counsel.

14.4 Concurrence by Office of the General Counsel

The Office of the General Counsel indicates its concurrence with, or disapproval of, the request on the original of Peace Corps Form PC-1456, and returns the form to the OPR.

The OPR then forwards the approved form to the Computer Services Division (M/AS/CS) or advises the requestor that his or her request has been disapproved.

14.5 Processing by Computer Services Division

The Computer Services Division is not responsible for judging the propriety of the request. It will, however:

• Determine that Peace Corps Form PC-1456 was properly prepared and is in order.
• Ensure that the approvals of both the OPR and the General Counsel appear on the original of the form.
• Prepare and forward to the OPR the address list or labels requested. It will notdeliver the material to any office other than the requesting OPR.
• Attach to each address list or group of labels an appropriate statement stressing the confidentiality of the material and the limitations on its distribution and use, in order to protect the Volunteers' privacy.

14.6 Processing by Administrative Services Division

Once it receives the address lists or labels from the OPR, the General Services Division (M/AS/GS) will:

• Insure that Peace Corps Form PC-1457 was properly prepared and is in order.
• Insure that the approvals of both the OPR and the General Counsel appear on the original of the form.
• Prepare the task order requesting the Peace Corps mailing contractor to provide the required services.
• Forward the task order, together with address list or labels, to the mailing contractor.

14.7 Blanket Approvals for Recurring Requests

Blanket approvals may be obtained for specific internal-use address lists or label requirements of a regular or recurring nature. This is especially true where publications are mailed to Volunteers on a weekly or monthly basis.

14.8 Duplication of Address Lists or Labels

In order to provide a maximum measure of control over dissemination and fully protect the privacy of the Volunteers, address lists and labels may not be duplicated or copied in any way other than as prescribed here.

14.9 Disclosure of all Other Volunteer Related Addresses

Addresses other than those covered in this directive may be disclosed only with the express prior written permission of the Volunteer, except that disclosures may be made to duly authorized representatives of Federal investigative agencies, with the concurrence of the General Counsel.

15.0 Forwarding Mail to Returned Volunteers

In no case will offers of sale or solicitation of money, property, or political support be forwarded or otherwise sent to a returned Volunteer by Peace Corps.

15.1 Individual Pieces of Mail

Peace Corps may agree to forward individual pieces of mail to a returned Volunteer's address on behalf of the sender, provided that the sender fully reimburses the Agency in all cases where the cost or mailing exceeds a nominal amount.

The sender should be asked to provide a stamped envelop containing his or her letter or other communication to the Returned Volunteer Services (M/SS) or other OPR for forwarding.

16.0 Mass Mailings

Under certain circumstances, mass mailings (to five or more returned Volunteers) will be arranged for organizations outside Peace Corps when a purpose or function of this Agency would be furthered thereby. Examples would be mailings for the purpose of notifying returned Volunteers of a voluntary action program in their area, or of staff employment opportunities.

16.1 Procedure

All requests for address labels for the purpose of forwarding mail to returned Volunteers must be processed through the OPR and the General Counsel, as detailed in paragraph 14. This type of request must also include a copy of the document to be mass mailed.

16.2 Forwarding the Material

All mailing for organizations outside Peace Corps will be done by Peace Corps at the expense of the requestor. The requestor will supply Peace Corps with stamped, stuffed envelopes, and the Agency will affix the labels and mail them.

The requestor will pay for all costs, including printing, Postage, and the labor involved in affixing address labels to the envelopes.

17.0 Effective Date

This Manual Section takes effect on the date of issuance.