Effective Date: January 11, 2006
(71 F.R. 1872)
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
SYSTEM NUMBER: 60-0274
System name:
Litigation Docket and Tracking System, Social Security Administration, Office of the General Counsel.
Security 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,
Each Regional Office will also maintain information on those cases for which it is responsible.
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:
The individuals on whom records are maintained in this system are individuals who are involved in litigation with SSA or (in matters within the jurisdiction of SSA) the
Categories of records in the system:
The records contain information to identify: (1) The court cases that SSA is either involved in or in which it believes it will, or may, become involved; (2) the people or groups involved in each case; (3) the component within the government to which each case has been assigned; (4) the status of the case, including the key events that occurred; and (5) the type of benefit claim which is the subject of the case.
Authorities for maintenance of the system:
The authorities for maintaining this system are the various statutes, regulations, rules or orders pertaining to the subject matter of the litigation (e.g., the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 405(g) and 1383(c)).
Purpose(s):
To enable the Office of the General Counsel to: Efficiently and effectively use its resources in judicial and administrative proceedings; provide a research tool that will permit attorneys to determine when and where certain litigation occurred; and balance the attorney workload.
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, among others, Federal and State agencies, private individuals, private attorneys, the United States Attorney and other Federal officials and agencies for the purpose of providing status information on pending litigation and managing the litigation workload.
2. To any Federal, State or local agency when the information is relevant to a matter involving the administration of a Federal, State or local income program.
3. To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that office made at the request of the subject of the record.
4. 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.
5. 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 official capacity; or
(c) Any SSA employee in his/her individual capacity when 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 the 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.
6. To a private firm under contract with the Social Security Administration for the purpose of having that firm convert the records to machine readable form, or collate, analyze, aggregate or otherwise refine the information in the records. The contractor will be required to maintain Privacy Act safeguards with respect to such records.
7. 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.
8. To a Federal, State or local agency for law enforcement purposes concerning a violation of law pertaining to the records in this system.
9. To Federal, State or local law enforcement agencies and private security contractors as appropriate, if information is necessary:
(a) To enable them to protect the safety of Social Security Administration (SSA) employees and customers, the security of the SSA workplace, and the operations of SSA facilities, or
(b) To assist in investigation or prosecutions with respect to activities that disrupt the operation of SSA facilities.
10. 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:
Information may be stored on a variety of computer-readable, electronic media (including disc, mass storage and magnetic tape) and on paper records (e.g., docket cards).
Retrievability:
The records in this system relating to litigation in court are retrieved by the court docket number. Records relating to a case involving programs administered by SSA are retrieved by the Social Security number (SSN) of each named party to the litigation. All records in this system are retrieved by the names of parties, names of the Office of the General Counsel attorneys assigned to the cases, and the legal or programmatic issues involved in the cases.
Safeguards:
The buildings where these records are stored are safeguarded by a variety of physical security systems which permit access only by authorized personnel and authorized visitors escorted by authorized personnel. The computer terminals used to access the records are kept in rooms that are locked during non-business hours. Electronic records are protected against unauthorized access by several password oriented systems which produce an audit trail of all attempts (successful and unsuccessful) to access the records.
Access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_g.htm for additional information relating to SSA data security measures.
Retention and disposal:
Records are maintained until the administrative or judicial proceedings have ended and for varying periods of time thereafter, subject to the Federal Records Act and applicable retention schedules.
System manager(s) and address(es):
Office of the General Counsel
Social Security Administration
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 procedure:
Same as Notification procedures. Also, requesters should reasonably specify the record contents being sought. Access will not be provided to information about materials compiled for litigation purposes, such as information about briefs and recommendations to appeal or not to appeal, except when such access is granted by the court. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.40(c)).
Contesting record procedure:
Same as Notification procedures. Also requesters should reasonably identify the record, specify the information that is contested and the corrective actions sought, and the reasons for requesting the correction, and furnish supporting evidence to show why the record is not accurate, timely, complete, relevant or necessary. These procedures
are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.65(a)).
Record source categories:
The sources for information in this system include legal pleadings and other documents, formal and informal discovery, Federal and State agencies and the individuals involved in claims and litigation.
Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
None.