PCC Management Insights

“Staying in the Know”

PCC Access to and Use of Mailing Lists and Other List Data
February 2009

Summary

This article will outline the rules regarding use by PCC members of mailing lists and other name and address data concerning PCC members and potential PCC members.  The Postal Service, and the PCCs, must adhere strictly to the legal restrictions regarding name and address data and mailing list publication and use.  Proper handling of this sensitive data is essential to maintaining the trust and confidence of Postal Service customers; in addition, in certain cases the Postal Service may have contractual liability to a supplier if such lists are not properly protected or are used inappropriately.  Both the Postal Co-Chairs and the PCC members must be aware of these restrictions and adhere to procedures designed to protect this data from unauthorized disclosure or use.  And postal personnel are responsible for: (a) ensuring that PCC members sign nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) covering these mailing lists (as discussed below); and (b) monitoring each PCC’s strict adherence to all NDA requirements on an ongoing basis.

The PCC Membership List

The PCC membership list, consisting of name and address data for PCC members, is a Postal Service list and is subject to restrictions on disclosure contained in the Postal Reorganization Act and in the Handbook AS-353, Guide to Privacy,  the Freedom of Information Act, and Records Management, § 5-2d. 
The PCC membership list must be protected from unauthorized disclosure and may only be used for the purpose authorized.  PCC members must take care to safeguard the list and must not import the list into data bases that they maintain for purposes other than PCC business exclusively. The PCC membership list may be used only for PCC business-like newsletters and meeting notices. 
When PCC members use the list to carry out PCC business, they are considered “special agents” or “limited agents” of the Postal Service carrying out specific postal business, and therefore, the disclosure is not deemed a disclosure to the public.  A PCC member must sign a nondisclosure agreement before being given access to the list to use for PCC business.  Additionally, a nondisclosure agreement must be signed by any industry PCC member who maintains the list and by any outside source that uses it (e.g., a list provider or similar mailing industry entity with whom an industry PCC member contracts for PCC business). The form of nondisclosure agreement is available at www.usps.com/pcc. 
Other Postal Service List Data 
The Postal Service may not share lists of names and addresses that are maintained by the Postal Service, other than the PCC mailing (membership) lists as set forth above, with PCC members.  Thus, no other Postal Service customer lists (for example, permit lists) may be shared with PCC members or accessed by them. 
Non-Postal Service Mailing Lists for PCC Use
PCC members can create and maintain non-Postal Service mailing lists for PCC purposes, provided that the lists are not maintained in a Postal Service database or on a Postal Service site and are not created from Postal Service information sources. Such lists can be made up of any PCC members.  The use and disclosure of such information must be provided and the PCC members or other persons on the list must provide consent (“opt-in”).   The PCC must maintain a record of this consent and also allow the PCC member or other persons the ability to ”opt-out” at anytime.  An email confirmation of such consent is acceptable.  The PCCs may buy or rent mailing lists from non-Postal Service sources.
Additionally, the Postal Service may from time to time make other non-Postal Service data available to the PCC members for the sole purpose of mailings designed to attract new PCC members.  The Postal Service may receive name and address data from outside sources (for example, data that comes from list providers) that, by the terms of the relevant contract with the supplier, the Postal Service is permitted to share with the PCCs.  In such a case, however, the information may only be made available to the PCCs by the PCC Program Office, who will first confirm with the Privacy Office and Corporate Law that such sharing is permissible.
In these approved cases, the Postal Service will need to ensure that any PCC member who obtains access to this data understands that it may only be used for legitimate PCC business purposes and may not otherwise be disclosed or used.  This requires that the PCC member enter into a separate nondisclosure agreement that confirms the confidential nature of the data, sets forth its limited use, and otherwise requires compliance with the relevant supplier contract limitations.  Note that this supplier-related nondisclosure agreement is a separate and distinct nondisclosure agreement from any NDA used in connection with a USPS PCC membership list (as discussed above).  This special version NDA must be obtained through the PCC Program Office whenever it is needed.
Finally, postal personnel (either the Postal Co-Chair or other Postal Service employees) must ensure that PCC members strictly comply with the terms of each nondisclosure agreement; simply obtaining a signature on the NDA is not enough.  Ongoing monitoring of such compliance will work to protect the confidential nature of these lists, and (in the case of supplier-provided lists) protect the Postal Service from contractual liability.  Monitoring activities will include: 
•	Keeping copies of all signed NDAs; 
•	Making sure that the PCC participant or member who signs the NDA understands all of the restrictions that are contained in the NDA (including, for example, restrictions against disclosure of the list information to others and restrictions against using the list information for any purpose other than the PCC business specified in the NDA); and 
•	Directing that the list information be returned to the PCC Program Office or the Postal Co-Chair after the contemplated uses have expired and that all copies of the list be destroyed.
If you are in doubt about whether it is appropriate for a PCC member or participant to have access to list information or whether a particular use of list information is appropriate, you should always contact the PCC Program Office for advice before taking any further action.