SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
System number: 60-0186
System name:
SSA
Litigation Staff’s Civil Action Tracking System (CATS), SSA/ODISP/OPB/LS.
Security classification:
None.
System location:
Social Security Administration
Litigation Staff 6401 Security Boulevar, Baltimore, MD 21235
Categories of individuals
covered by the system:
Individuals who are
involved, as plaintiffs, in class action litigation concerning one or more of
the programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA); or who
are affected by an Acquiescence Ruling (AR). When SSA determines that a holding
in a Circuit Court decision conflicts with our interpretation of a provision of
the Social Security Act or regulation, SSA issues an AR. When we publish
an AR, we send notices to those individuals whose claims may be affected.
(The notice tells the claimant that an AR may affect a prior decision.)
In this regard, the Civil Action Tracking System (CATS) contains a given
claimant’s Social Security number (SSN), name and address, and maintains a list
of those claimants possibly affected by the AR.
Categories of records in the
system:
Records for individuals
involved in the class action contain beneficiary and claims-related information
from SSA’s Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) and/or the
Supplemental Security Income Record (SSR). During the lifetime of the
implementation of the court order, the records will also contain information
about notices sent, reply forms received, alerts generated, class membership
screenings and decisions. With respect to an AR, as mentioned above, CATS
contains basic information (SSN, name and address) that came from one of SSA’s master files or was typed into CATS in the case of a
walk-in.
Authority for maintenance of
the system:
Section
205(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(a)).
Purpose(s):
Records in this system
are used by SSA's Litigation Staff to oversee the
implementation of court orders and settlement agreements related to class
actions. These records are also used by staff to review and analyze court
decisions to recommend litigation strategy for future related cases.
From an AR standpoint, we
use CATS to store addresses to send notices to claimants affected by an AR.
Routine uses of records
maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of
such uses:
Disclosure may be made
for routine uses as indicated below:
1.
To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that office about
an individual claimant made at the request of the subject of a record.
2.
To the Department of Justice (DOJ), a court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal when:
(a)
SSA, or any component thereof; or
(b)
any SSA employee in his/her official 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
is a
party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and SSA determines
that the use of such records by DOJ, the court or other 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.
3.
To the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as necessary, for the purpose of auditing
SSA's compliance with the safeguard provisions of the
Internal Revenue Code
(IRC) of 1986, as amended.
4.
Non-tax
return information which is not restricted from disclosure by Federal
law may be disclosed to the General Services Administration (GSA) and the
National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) for the purpose of conducting
records management studies with respect to their duties and responsibilities under 44 U.S.C. § 2904
and § 2906, as amended by NARA Act of 1984.
5.
To student
volunteers and other workers, who technically do not have the
status of Federal employees, when they are performing work for SSA as authorized
by law, and they need access to personally identifiable information in
SSA records to perform their assigned Agency functions.
Policies and practices for
storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the
system:
Storage:
Records are maintained on
mainframe computer disk and cartridges. Occasionally, there may be paper
copies of small amounts of data.
Retrievability:
The records are
retrieved by the Beneficiary Own Account Number (BOAN), last name, and date of
birth.
Safeguards:
Files in this system are
maintained in SSA’s secure computer center and
occasionally in paper form in desks or file cabinets that lock. Access to
the files is limited to employees who require the files to perform their
duties. All personnel having access to the records have been informed of
criminal sanctions for unauthorized disclosure of information relating to
individuals. (See Appendix G to this publication for additional
procedures relating to safeguards SSA employs to protect personal records.)
Retention and disposal:
Records are archived on
mainframe computer cartridges when the implementation of the court order is
completed. The cartridges are stored indefinitely in a locked file
cabinet.
System manager(s) and address:
Director
Litigation Staff Social Security Administration 6401 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21235
Notification procedure:
An individual can
determine if this system contains a record about him or her by writing to the
system manager(s) above. An individual can determine if this system contains a
record about him/her by writing to the systems 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, such as a voter
registration card, credit card, etc. 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 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).
Record access procedures:
Same as
notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify
the record contents 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 record,
specify the information being contested and state the corrective action sought
and the reasons for the correction with supporting justification showing how
the record is untimely, incomplete, inaccurate or irrelevant. These
procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR Part 401.65(a)).
Record source categories:
Systems of records
maintained by SSA (e.g., the Claims Folders System (60‑0089), Master
Beneficiary Record (60‑0090) and Supplement Security Income Record and
Special Veterans Benefits (60‑0103)).
Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
None.