5 CFR 297.104: Types of records.

The Office manages three generic types of personnel records systems:

(a) Internal systems of records are under the Office's physical control and are established and maintained by the Office solely on its own employees and, when appropriate, on others in contact with the Office regarding matters within its authority.

(b) Centralized systems of personnel records are physically established and maintained by the Office with regard to most current and former Federal employees and some applicants for Federal employment.

(c) Governmentwide systems of personnel records are maintained by the Office, and through Office delegations of authority, by Federal agencies with regard to their own employees or applicants for employment. Although they are Office records, they are in the physical custody of those agencies. Though in the physical custody of agencies, the Office retains authority under its record management authority and under the Privacy Act to decide appeals of initial agency determinations regarding access to and amendment of material in these systems.