10.5.7. Use of Pseudonyms by IRS Employees

(1) Section 3706 of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98) from 26 USC 7804, dated July 22, 1998, provides that any employee of the IRS may use an IRS pseudonym only if adequate justification for the use of a pseudonym is provided by the employee, including protection of personal safety; and such use is approved by the employee’s supervisor before the IRS pseudonym is used. Verbatim text of Section 3706 of IRS RRA 98 is provided in Exhibit 10.5.7-1, Verbatim Text of Section 3706 of IRS RRA 98 from 26 USC 7804, dated July 22, 1998.

(1) This IRM has been developed in accordance with Section 3706 of IRS RRA 98.

(1) The PGLD/IM Office is responsible for administering and managing IRS program requirements by ensuring IRS incidents involving the loss or theft of IRS and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) assets containing Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) data, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and tax information; the loss or theft of physical and electronic documents that include SBU data, including PII and tax information; and inadvertent unauthorized disclosures of SBU data, including PII and tax information, are investigated, analyzed and resolved. The PGLD/IM Office is also responsible for administering and managing the IRS Pseudonym Program. Specific responsibilities for the PGLD/IM Office, IRS employees, and IRS managers as they relate to the IRS Pseudonym Program are listed below.

(2) The PGLD Incident Management Office is responsible for:

1. Managing the IRS Pseudonym Program in support of IRS employees who may, because of threats or potential threats to their personal safety, need to work under the protection of an IRS pseudonym.

2. Reviewing requests for IRS pseudonyms to ensure adequate justification is met as outlined in (6) and (7) of IRM 10.5.7.1.6, Terms/Definitions/ Acronyms.

3. Processing all requests for IRS pseudonyms received by the manager of record within five to ten business days from receipt of the request.

4. Maintaining a copy of the encrypted email documenting the approval of a request for an IRS pseudonym.

5. Managing and maintaining the official Pseudonym Master List (PML) and all other related files where IRS pseudonym information will be stored.

6. Ensuring that all information pertaining to IRS pseudonym holders is maintained in a secure manner consistent with IRS security and privacy policy requirements.

7. Updating HR Connect to add IRS employee’s IRS pseudonym information.

8. Updating Outlook (email) and Discovery Directory to display the IRS pseudonym and initiating the process to change the SmartID to the IRS pseudonym.

9. Updating the PML each month to ensure that the information is correct and up-to-date.

10. Processing all requests to withdraw from the IRS Pseudonym Program received by an IRS employee’s manager of record. See IRM 10.5.7.5, Withdrawing from the IRS Pseudonym Program.

Note: Visit the Pseudonyms page in the Disclosure and Privacy Knowledge Base Site for additional information about the IRS Pseudonym Program.

(3) IRS employees are responsible for:

1. Submitting their request for an IRS pseudonym totheir immediate manager via encrypted email, or hard copy in a confidential envelope.

2. Following all request requirements as outlined in IRM 10.5.7.4, Requesting an IRS Pseudonym.

3. Ensuring that the IRS pseudonym is not used until notified that the request was approved by management or as a part of a resolution to the IRS employee’s grievance and confirmation is received from the PGLD/IM Office that the IRS pseudonym has been added to Outlook (email) and Discovery Directory.

4. Following the procedures as outlined in IRM 10.5.7.4.2, IRS Pseudonym Use Disapproved, if their initial IRS pseudonym request is not approved by their immediate manager.

5. Using the approved IRS pseudonym in the performance of all official duties during their hours of work.

6. Notifying their manager via either encrypted email, or hard copy in a confidential envelope, if they would like to withdraw from the IRS Pseudonym Program. See IRM 10.5.7.5, Withdrawing from the IRS Pseudonym Program.

Note: IRS Employees must not open IRS Service Central tickets to request IRS pseudonyms.

(4) IRS Managers are responsible for:

1. Reviewing requests for IRS pseudonyms to ensure all request requirements as outlined in IRM 10.5.7.4, Requesting an IRS Pseudonym, have been addressed by the submitting IRS employee.

2. Informing the IRS employee of approval or disapproval of the IRS pseudonym request within three business days of receipt. This can be done via encrypted email, or hard copy in a confidential envelope. Method is at the manager’s discretion.

3. Completing Form 15252, Manager’s Request for Processing and Registration of IRS Pseudonym, if the IRS pseudonym request is approved by the manager, and sending the Form 15252 via encrypted email to IM’s *Pseudonym mailbox to process the request and register the IRS pseudonym.

4. Instructing the IRS employee not to begin using the IRS pseudonym until advised by the PGLD/IM Office that the change from their legal name to an IRS pseudonym has been made in Outlook (email) and Discovery Directory.

5. Ensuring that the IRS employee’s co-workers, that is, IRS employees that work in the same office building (excluding campuses), work unit, or work stream, as appropriate, and the NTEU Chapter President, are notified of a Bargaining Unit employee’s IRS pseudonym.

6. Ensuring that the IRS pseudonym holder is referred to by their IRS pseudonym during all regular job-related duties so that the IRS employee is not addressed or referred to by their legal name thereby revealing their identity to taxpayers.

7. Updating organizational listings of IRS employees to show only the IRS pseudonym of the employee.

8. Following the procedures as outlined in IRM 10.5.7.4.2, IRS Pseudonym Use Disapproved, when not approving the IRS employee’s initial request for an IRS pseudonym.

9. Reviewing each of their employees’s IRS pseudonym holder status on an annual basis. The manager must review their employee’s current work situation to determine if circumstances have changed since the IRS employee originally obtained their IRS pseudonym. If the employee has changed jobs or the situation prompting the original IRS pseudonym no longer exists, the manager must advise the employee of the choice to withdraw from the program (withdrawal is totally voluntary).

10. Sending an encrypted email to IM’s *Pseudonym mailbox upon receipt of an IRS pseudonym holder’s request to withdraw from the program, stating that the IRS employee no longer requires an IRS pseudonym. See IRM 10.5.7.5, Withdrawing from the IRS Pseudonym Program.

11. Maintaining documentation of IRS pseudonym approval in the Employee Performance File (EPF).

Note: IRS Managers must not open IRS Service Central tickets to request IRS pseudonyms.

(1) Program Reports: Statistics reflecting the number of new IRS pseudonym requests received and the time frame for completion, the number of withdrawals from the program, and the number of IRS pseudonym holders that have left the IRS, are provided in all PGLD/IMEP Quarterly Operational Reviews. All information is derived from the PML maintained by the PGLD/IM Office, as well as the Human Resources Reporting Center (HRRC) for verification of those current IRS pseudonym holders who have left the IRS due to resignation, retirement or termination.

(2) Program Effectiveness: Program goals are pseudonym processing within five to ten business days after receipt of request and are measured via the information tracked and reported in the PGLD/IMEP Quarterly Operational Reviews.

(3) Annual Review: IRS pseudonym policies and guidance included in this manual will be reviewed annually and any recommended changes will be submitted as needed.

(1) The PGLD/IM Office maintains the centralized electronic listing of approved/registered IRS pseudonym users known as the Pseudonym Master List (PML). Maintaining and storing the legal name and IRS pseudonym of an IRS employee is required to ensure it is an approved and registered IRS pseudonym. When employees no longer need an IRS pseudonym, change jobs, or leave the IRS, their names are removed from the 'active' list and recorded as no longer in the IRS Pseudonym Program. The listing contains the legal name, the chosen IRS pseudonym, the employee's Standard Employee Identifier (SEID) and the date the IRS pseudonym was processed. It also contains the employee's Post of Duty (POD), job title, email address and business unit.

(2) Information from the listing is protected and access to the PML is not provided to anyone outside of the IRS Pseudonym Program manager and their back-up. Information from the PML is only shared with designated IRS employees with a verified need to know as determined by the PGLD/IM Office. This need to know would include: HRRC employees who need the information to maintain records for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests; Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) agents for law enforcement purposes; and Facilities Management and Security Services (FMSS) for identity verification before issuing new credentials in the IRS pseudonym.

(3) The PML is included in the IRS system of records, General Personnel and Payroll Records, Treasury/IRS 36.003, and must be treated accordingly for disclosure purposes. As such, the PGLD/IM Office will complete the required Privacy & Civil Liberties Impact Assessment (PCLIA) for the PML as well as a System of Records Notice (SORN) that addresses the PII records contained in the PML.

(1) This subsection contains the definition of terms as used in the context of Section 3706 of IRS RRA 98.

(2) Pseudonym. A fictitious name.

(3) Protection of Personal Safety. Keeping one’s self, or others, from harm or danger. Reasons for concern for personal safety include:

1. Verbal and written threats of bodily harm or injury from a taxpayer or their representative directly involved in a case under review

2. Actual bodily harm or injury from a taxpayer or their representative

3. Harassment

4. Taxpayer or their representative contacts an employee or employee’s family member at their home without purpose of legitimate communication

5. Evidence of taxpayer or representative aggression towards any government employee

6. Threatening or aggressive acts by a taxpayer or their representative towards any government employee

(4) Harassment. The use of words, gestures, or actions that tend to alarm, disturb, or abuse another person.

(5) Reporting to TIGTA. Employees have a responsibility to refer to TIGTA all assaults or threats to themselves or members of their family by a taxpayer or the taxpayer’s representative.

(6) Adequate Justification. Defined as credible evidence that establishes that a taxpayer or their representative is engaged in a physically, financially, or emotionally threatening activity, including, but not limited to:

1. Committing battery against the employee, including unwanted touching

2. Intimidating or attempting to intimidate the employee, such as with a show of weapons

3. Uttering statements or specific threats of bodily harm directed to the employee

4. Assaulting the employee

5. Making statements threatening financial harm to the employee

6. Harassing the employee

7. Contacting the employee at their home

8. Committing the acts listed above against members of the employee’s family

9. Committing the acts listed above against another employee and the requesting employee has been assigned a case involving the same taxpayer

(7) Adequate Justification - Risk to Personal Safety. Adequate justification is also defined as situations in which an employee’s job or place of duty poses an increased risk to personal safety to themselves or their families. This increased risk may be due to, but not limited to, any of the following:

1. A locator service shows the taxpayer, whose case the employee has been assigned, has a violent criminal history that would suggest a heightened risk of harassment towards an employee.

2. The employee is expected to encounter taxpayers or representatives who are active members of groups that advocate violence against the IRS or other federal employees.

3. The employee is expected to encounter taxpayers who have been reported to have engaged in activities that physically, financially, or emotionally threaten or harm any other federal, state, county, or local government employee.

(8) Documentation of Credible Evidence. Documentation of credible evidence includes, but is not limited to, the examples listed below:

1. A signed statement by an employee, family member(s) or witness, or a letter signed by the taxpayer or their representative, which demonstrates any of the criteria listed under Adequate Justification.

2. A document from a financial institution showing that a taxpayer has tried to place liens on an employee’s assets.

(9) Acronyms. The table below lists commonly used acronyms and their definitions.

(1) IRMs.

1. IRM 10.2.5, Physical Security Program, Identification Media. IRM 10.2.5 applies to the control, issuance and disposition of Identification (ID) media. ID media are authorized forms of ID that are designed to provide evidence of the bearer’s identity, authorization to access IRS facilities or systems, or authority to act as an agent of the IRS in the performance of official duties.

2. IRM 10.2.6, Physical Security Program, Pocket Commissions. IRM 10.2.6 provides policies, authorities, directives, and responsibilities for Civil Enforcement and Non-Enforcement Pocket Commissions (PC). It applies to the control, issuance, and destruction of a PC.

(2) Disclosure and Privacy Knowledge Base Site.

1. Visit the Pseudonyms page in the Disclosure and Privacy Knowledge Base Site for additional information about the IRS Pseudonym Program.

(3) Mailboxes.

1. Pseudonym mailbox. All requests for new IRS pseudonyms, all requests to withdraw from the IRS Pseudonym Program, and any questions about the IRS Pseudonym Program must be sent via encrypted email to IM’s *Pseudonym mailbox. See IRM 10.5.7.4, Requesting an IRS Pseudonym, and IRM 10.5.7.5, Withdrawing from the IRS Pseudonym Program.

2. SmartID mailbox. All questions about obtaining a new SmartID Card in the new IRS pseudonym must be sent to the *FMSS ICAM SmartID mailbox.

3. Pocket Commissions mailbox. All questions about obtaining a new Pocket Commission in the new IRS pseudonym must be sent to the *FMSS Pocket Commissions mailbox.

(4) Forms.

1. Form 13716, Request for ID Media for IRS Employees. This form must be completed and presented at the assigned IRS credentialing station when the IRS employee re-enrolls to obtain a SmartID card in their registered IRS pseudonym. See IRM 10.2.5, Physical Security Program, Identification Media.

2. Form 13716-B, Request for Pocket Commission. This form must be completed to obtain a new Pocket Commission in the registered IRS pseudonym. For additional information, see IRM 10.2.6, Physical Security Program, Pocket Commissions.

3. Form 15252, Manager’s Request for Processing and Registration of IRS Pseudonym. This form must be completed by managers to request the processing and registration of an IRS pseudonym for an employee. Managers must send the form via encrypted email to IM’s *Pseudonym mailbox.

(1) If the manager approves the IRS employee's request for the use of an IRS pseudonym, the manager will complete Form 15252, Manager’s Request for Processing and Registration of IRS Pseudonym. Once completed, the manager will send the Form 15252 via encrypted email to IM’s *Pseudonym mailbox to register the pseudonym with the PGLD/IM Office.

(2) Once the Form 15252 is received, the PGLD/IM Office will:

1. Review the request to ensure adequate justification has been met.

2. Add the employee to the Pseudonym Master List (PML).

3. Update HR Connect to add the employee’s IRS pseudonym information.

4. Update Outlook (email) and Discovery Directory to display the IRS pseudonym.

5. Initiate the process to change the SmartID to the IRS pseudonym.

(3) Within three business days from receipt of the request, the manager will inform the employee that the IRS pseudonym request is approved with instructions that the employee must not begin using the IRS pseudonym until advised by the PGLD/IM Office that the change from the employee’s legal name to an IRS pseudonym has been made within Outlook (email) and Discovery Directory.

(4) Once an employee begins using their IRS pseudonym, the employee's manager will promptly take steps to ensure that the employee’s co-workers, that is, IRS employees that work in the same office building (excluding campuses), work unit, or work stream, as appropriate, and the NTEU Chapter President are notified of the Bargaining Unit employee’s IRS pseudonym so that the employee is not addressed or referred to by their legal name, thereby revealing their identity to taxpayers. Organizational listings of employees must also be updated to show only the IRS pseudonym.

(5) Once an employee begins using their IRS pseudonym, the employee must change their voice mail message to include their IRS pseudonym and, if warranted, the name on their cubicle, office, etc.

(6) An IRS pseudonym stays with an employee for the duration of their IRS career or until the employee determines they no longer require one. See IRM 10.5.7.5, Withdrawing from the IRS Pseudonym Program, for instructions on how to withdraw from the IRS Pseudonym Program.

(1) If the manager disapproves the IRS employee's request for the use of an IRS pseudonym, within three business days from receipt of the request, the manager must return the request to the employee for additional justification. The manager must provide, in writing, the reason(s) for disapproval. The manager must also advise the employee, in writing, that they have the right, within five business days, excluding absences from work, to provide additional justification or information in support of their request via encrypted email or hard copy in a confidential envelope.

(2) The employee has five business days from receipt of the disapproval, excluding absences from work, to provide additional written justification or information to their manager in support of their request for the use of an IRS pseudonym.

(3) Upon receipt of the additional justification, the manager has three business days to review the request.

1. If the second request is approved, the manager will follow the guidance provided in IRM 10.5.7.4.1, IRS Pseudonym Use Approved.

2. If the request is disapproved a second time, the manager will return the request to the employee, and provide, in writing, the reason(s) for disapproval. The manager will provide the name and contact information for the next level manager and advise the employee that they have the option, within three business days, excluding absences from work, to appeal the disapproval and to elevate their request to the next level of management.

(4) The employee has three business days, excluding absences from work, to appeal the disapproval to the appropriate next level manager.

(5) If the employee appeals the disapproval, the next level manager has three business days to review the request and approve or disapprove it. If disapproved at this level, the employee may file a grievance under the terms of Article 41, Employee Grievance, of the National Agreement for bargaining unit employees, Document 11678 , or use IRS grievance procedures for non-bargaining unit employees.

(1) IRS employees who have a request for an IRS pseudonym approved will be given a new SmartID Card (HSPD-12) in the approved IRS pseudonym. After the IRS pseudonym request is processed, the PGLD/IM Office will initiate the process for the SmartID Card and provide the pseudonym employee’s manager information to obtain the new card. The SmartID Card will be provided after the pseudonym employee’s manager submits the Form 13716, Request for ID Media for IRS Employees, with a copy of the approved IRS pseudonym request, to the IRS credentialing station and the employee re-enrolls with the IRS pseudonym. Questions about Pseudonym SmartIDs must be sent to the *FMSS ICAM SmartID mailbox.

(2) IRS employees with an approved IRS pseudonym must be issued a SmartID card in their IRS pseudonym only. Previously issued ID cards must be recovered and returned to the local FMSS physical security office prior to the issuance of a new ID card. The IRS pseudonym on the SmartID card must match the enforcement or non-enforcement PC, if applicable. See IRM 10.2.5.6.1, Photo ID Cards.

(3) At the IRS employee's request, during the interim period between approval of the IRS pseudonym and issuance of an HSPD-12 SmartID Card and other IRS credentials, the employee’s manager will use discretion pursuant to the Pseudonym MOU and this IRM to ensure that the employee is relieved from interacting with, or performing work, that involves a taxpayer identified as posing a threat of compromise to the legal identity of the IRS pseudonym holder or interacting with the taxpayer(s) identified as posing the threat if that interaction requires the employee to use their name or produce a form of identification that contains their name.

(1) While a manager is considering an IRS employee’s request for an IRS pseudonym, the manager will use their discretion in accordance with IRM 10.5.7.12, Assignment of Work to IRS Pseudonym Holders, to ensure that the employee is relieved from interacting with, or performing work that involves, the taxpayer(s) identified as posing a threat of compromise to the legal identity of the IRS pseudonym holder.

(2) During the period of time after an IRS employee’s request for an IRS pseudonym is approved, but prior to the PGLD/IM Office registering the IRS pseudonym and completing changes to Outlook (email) and Discovery Directory, at the employee's request and management's discretion, the employee may be relieved from interacting with, or performing work that involves, the taxpayer(s) identified as posing a threat of compromise to the legal identity of the IRS pseudonym holder.

(3) At management’s discretion, if an IRS field employee believes that their IRS pseudonym identity would be compromised within a particular community or geographic area (for example, because their identity is known in this area), and their safety could be jeopardized, the employee may request that they not be assigned cases/taxpayer contact in that identified area.

(4) At the IRS employee’s request and management’s discretion, management will assign an assisting field employee to accompany an IRS pseudonym employee if they are assigned a case in an area identified by the employee as one in which the employee believes that their IRS pseudonym identity would be compromised, or where the history of the case indicates a safety concern.

(5) All Business Operating and Functional Divisions with employees whose duties require them to have contact with taxpayers must refer to IRM 25.4.1, Employee Protection, Potentially Dangerous Taxpayer, for further guidance. For field contacts, if the taxpayer(s) involved has been coded PDT, an armed escort must be requested per IRM 5.1.3.5.1(3), When to Request Armed Escort. If the taxpayer(s) involved have been coded CAU, follow the provisions in IRM 5.1.3.5.1(4).