Privacy Act Statement [5 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 552a, as amended]: 

This notice is provided in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3), and concerns the information requested on the Ombudsman Web Form.

AUTHORITY: 44 U.S.C. § 3101; FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Pub. L. 112-95 § 341(3)(A) (Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office).

PURPOSE(S): This information will be used to investigate reports of the possible existence of activities related to a violation of an order, a regulation, or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety.

ROUTINE USE(S): The information collected will be included in the System of Records Notice (SORN) DOT/FAA 845 - Administrator's Correspondence Control and Hotline Information System, 87 Fed. Reg. 61,655 (Oct. 10, 2022), and will be subject to the published routine uses including:

1. To the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs Service, and the Department of Defense, the initial SUP complaints received by FAA, for their use in any civil/criminal investigations when an FAA suspected unapproved parts case is initiated.
2. Routine use (2)(a) and (b) apply only to records pertaining to noise complaints, and do not apply to information contained in related hotline or whistleblower protection complaint files. Pursuant to routine use (2), the FAA may disclose:
   a.    To airport sponsors, federal agencies and departments operating manned and unmanned aircraft outside FAA’s regulatory jurisdiction, and other operators of aerial landing and takeoff sites, records relating to noise complaints stemming from their operations to ensure consistency between the FAA and these entities on noise complaints;
   b.    To manned and unmanned aircraft operators when necessary to resolve a complaint pertaining to the operator, or when necessary to ensure consistency between the FAA and the operator in responding to noise complaints. Records disclosed pursuant to this routine use are limited to the following information: geolocation only to the extent necessary to identify the general location of the noise complaint; time and date of complaint; and description of the complaint or inquiry. Complainant names and contact information will not be disclosed pursuant to this routine use; and
3. To officials of labor organizations recognized under 5 U.S.C. chapter 71, access to all information when relevant and necessary to their duties of exclusive representation concerning AVS’s Voluntary Safety Reporting Program.

The Department has also published 15 additional routine uses applicable to all DOT Privacy Act system of records. These routine uses are published in the Federal Register at 75 Fed. Reg. 82,132 (Dec. 29, 2010), 77 Fed. Reg. 42,796 (July 20, 2012), and 84 Fed. Reg. 55,222 (Oct. 15, 2019), under “DOT General Routine Uses” (available at https://www.transportation.gov/
individuals/privacy/privacy-act-system-records-notices).

DISCLOSURE: Submission of this information is voluntary; however, failure to furnish the requested information may restrict FAA’s ability to thoroughly investigate your allegations and may therefore result in an inability to respond to your report.