Effective Date: January 11, 2006
(71 F.R. 1869)
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
SYSTEM NUMBER: 60-0259
System name:
Claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act and Military Personnel and Civilian Employees' Claim Act, Social Security Administration, Office of the General Counsel.
System classification:
None.
System Location:
Records are located at the following Social Security Administration (SSA) offices:
Office of the General Counsel
Social Security Administration
Room 617
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region I
Social Security Administration
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region II
Social Security Administration
Room 3904, 26 Federal Plaza
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region III
Social Security Administration
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region IV
Social Security Administration
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region V
Social Security Administration
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region VI
Social Security Administration,
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region VII
Social Security Administration, Room 535
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region VIII
Social Security Administration
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region IX
Social Security Administration, Room 405
50 United
In the
Office of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region X
Social Security Administration
Categories of individuals covered by the system:
SSA employees and members of the public who have a claim against SSA under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and SSA employees who have a claim against SSA under the Military Personnel and Civilian Employees' Claim Act. In addition, other individuals may be mentioned in the records, such as witnesses to accidents, attorneys for claimants, insurance company personnel, police officers, SSA supervisors who completed forms or provided information about incidents relating to a claim, etc.
Categories of records in the system:
Information that is pertinent to a claim, such as accident reports, statements of witnesses, police reports, medical records and bills, estimates for repairs to property, insurance policies, information on vehicle title and registration, legal analysis of the claim, final decision on the claim, and documents pertaining to any subsequent proceedings, such as reconsideration or litigation, and vouchers for payment.
Authority for maintenance of the system:
Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 2671-2680, and 1346(b); Military Personnel and Civilian Employees' Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. 3721-3723.
Purpose(s):
To process claims filed with the Agency.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:
Disclosure may be made for routine use as indicated below:
1. To Federal, State and local government agencies, private individuals, private and public hospitals, private attorneys, insurance companies, individual law enforcement officers, and other persons or entities with relevant information for the purpose of investigating, settling or adjudicating claims and assisting with subsequent litigation.
2. To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that office made at the request of the subject of a record.
3. To the Office of the President for the purpose of responding to an individual pursuant to an inquiry from that individual or from a third party on his/her behalf.
4. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), a court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal, when:
(a) The Social Security Administration (SSA), or any component thereof; or
(b) Any SSA employee in his/her capacity; or
(c) Any SSA employee in his/her individual capacity where DOJ (or SSA where it is authorized to do so) has agreed to represent the employee; or
(d) The United States or any agency thereof where SSA determines that the litigation is likely to affect the operations of SSA or any of its components, is a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and SSA determines that the use of such records by DOJ, a court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal, is relevant and necessary to the litigation, provided, however, that in each case, SSA determines that such disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
5. To a Federal, State or local agency for law enforcement purposes concerning a violation of law pertaining to records in this system.
6. To student volunteers, individuals working under a personal services contract, and other workers who technically do not have the status of Federal employees, when they are performing work for the Social Security Administration (SSA), as authorized by law, and they need access to personally identifiable information in SSA records in order to perform their assigned Agency functions.
7. To the General Services Administration and the National Archives Records Administration (NARA) under 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906, as amended by the NARA Act of 1984, information which is not restricted from disclosure by Federal law for the use of those agencies in conducting records management studies.
Policies and practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
Records are maintained in paper form (e.g., file folders) and stored in file cabinets. Some records may be maintained on Agency computers.
Retrievability:
Records are retrieved by the name of the claimant and claim number.
Safeguards:
Office buildings in which these records are maintained are locked after the close of business day. These records are only accessible by General Counsel staff.
Access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_g.htm for additional information relating to SSA data security measures.
Retention and disposal:
The records are maintained in the Office of the General Counsel until final action is completed on the claims, then transferred to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Assessment and Management where they are stored for six years. They are disposed of in accordance with the Federal Records Act and applicable retention
schedules.
System manager(s) and address(es):
Social Security Administration
Office of the General Counsel
Room 617
(For additional addresses see Systems location).
Notification procedures:
An individual can determine if this system contains a record about him/her by writing to the system manager(s) at the above address and providing his/her name, SSN or other information that may be in the system of records that will identify him/her. An individual requesting notification of records in person should provide the same information, as well as provide an identity document, preferably with a photograph, such as a driver's license or some other means of identification. If an individual does not have any identification documents sufficient to establish his/her identity, the individual must certify in writing that he/she is the person claimed to be and that he/she understands that the knowing and willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to another individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense. If notification is requested by telephone, an individual must verify his/her identity by providing identifying information that parallels information in the record to which notification is being requested. If it is determined that the identifying information provided by telephone is insufficient, the individual will be required
to submit a request in writing or in person. If an individual is requesting information by telephone on behalf of another individual, the subject individual must be connected with SSA and the requesting individual in the same phone call. SSA will establish the subject individual's identity (his/her name, SSN, address, date of birth and place of birth, along with one other piece of information, such as mother's maiden name) and ask for his/her consent in providing information to the requesting individual.
If a request for notification is submitted by mail, an individual must include a notarized statement to SSA to verify his/her identity or must certify in the request that he/she is the person claimed to be and that he/she understands that the knowing and willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to another individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.40(c)).
Record access procedures:
Same as Notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record being sought. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.40(c)).
Contesting record procedures:
Same as Notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably identify the records, specify the information they are contesting and the corrective action sought, and the reasons for the correction, with supporting justification showing how the record is incomplete, untimely, inaccurate or irrelevant. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.65(a)).
Record source categories:
The information in this system comes from a number of sources, such as claim forms, accident reports, statements of witnesses, statements by supervisors in the case of employee claims, police reports, medical records, estimates of repairs for property damage, insurance policies, motor vehicle report about the incident, etc.
System exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
None.