Effective Date: September 15, 2003
(68 F.R. 54037)
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
System number: 60-0330
System name:
eWork System, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs, Office of Employment Support Programs
Security classification:
None.
System location:
Social Security Administration
Office of Systems
In addition to the Headquarters location, SSA field locations; addresses may be obtained by writing to the system manager at the address below.
Categories of individuals covered by the system:
This system covers Social Security Title II disability beneficiaries who must undergo a continuing disability review (CDR) because of work activity, participate in the Ticket-to-Work Program, or make earnings or work reports; and Title XVI recipients making any report of work or earnings.
Categories of records in the system:
This system contains the following types of records: identifying information such as a Social Security number (SSN), name and date of birth; claim information such as type of claim, date disability began, reason for reopening, continuance or cessation code, date of termination (if applicable); work activity and employment information; evidence of earnings; district office and state agency code; data related to the Ticket-to-Work Program such as Ticket eligibility, receipt, assignment and use, alleged and verified earnings, and suspension of continuing disability determinations.
Authority for maintenance of the system:
Sections 222, 225, 1611, 1631 and 1633 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 422, 425, 1382, 1383 and 1383b); the Federal Records Act of 1950 (Public Law 81-754, 64 Stat. 583), as amended.
Purpose(s):
Information in this system will be used to:
· generate requests to employers and Title II disability applicants or beneficiaries to verify the applicants/beneficiaries' earnings and work activity;
· record and store monthly earnings and other work activity information, work and earnings reports, and evidence for Title II disability beneficiaries who are employed and/or self-employed, and for Title XVI recipients making any report of earnings;
· produce reports of beneficiaries' current entitlement/eligibility and work status based on information from their families and representatives and information in other SSA databases;
· produce receipts for all reports of earnings;
· identify complex and sensitive cases for handling by appropriate direct service personnel, such as technical experts;
· automate requests for disability folders that may be located at different locations within SSA;
· obtain relevant information from other SSA databases for use in CDRs;
· provide management information reports concerning "work" CDRs, work and earnings reports, and other related workloads; and
· provide information for statistical studies, evaluations, research and demonstration projects relating to SSA's disability programs, and specifically, to the Ticket-to-Work Program.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:
Disclosures may be made for routine uses as indicated below. However, disclosure of any information defined as "return or return information" under 26 U.S.C. § 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) will not be disclosed unless authorized by a statute, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or IRS regulations.
1. To the Office of the President for the purpose of responding to an individual pursuant to an inquiry received from that individual or from a third party on his or her behalf.
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 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 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.
Disclosure of any information defined as "return or return information" under 26 U.S.C. § 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) will not be disclosed unless authorized by a statute, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or IRS regulations.
4. To the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Treasury, for the purpose of auditing SSA's compliance with the safeguard provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of 1986, as amended.
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 in order to perform their assigned Agency functions.
6. To contractors and other Federal agencies, as necessary, for the purpose of assisting SSA in the efficient administration of its programs. We contemplate disclosing information under this routine use only in situations in which SSA may enter into a contractual or similar agreement with a third party to assist in accomplishing an agency function relating to this system of records.
7. To Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies and private security contractors as appropriate, information is necessary:
· To enable them to protect the safety of SSA employees and customers, the security of the SSA workplace and the operation of SSA facilities, or
· To assist investigations or prosecutions with respect to activities that affect such safety and security or activities that disrupt the operation of SSA facilities.
8. To Federal agencies, contractors or third parties for the performance of evaluations, statistical studies, research and demonstration projects directly relating to this system of records, including the Ticket-to-Work Program.
9. Non-tax return information which is not restricted from disclosure by Federal law to the General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Archives Records Administration (NARA) under 44 U.S.C. § 2904 and § 2906, as amended by NARA Act of 1984, for the use of those agencies in conducting records management studies.
Disclosure to Consumer Reporting Agencies:
Disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)(12) may be made to consumer reporting agencies as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f)) or the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 (31 U.S.C. § 3701, et seq.) as amended. The disclosure will be made in accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3711(e) when authorized by sections 204(f), 808(e), or 1631(b)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 404(f), 1008(e), or 1383(b)(4)). The purpose of this disclosure is to aid in the collection of outstanding debts owed to the Federal government, typically, to provide an incentive for debtors to repay delinquent Federal government debts by making these debts part of their credit records. The information to be disclosed is limited to the individual's name, address, SSN, and other information necessary to establish the individual's identity, the amount, status, and history of the debt and the agency or program under which the debt arose.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
Records in this system are maintained in both electronic and paper form (e.g., magnetic tape and disc and microfilm).
Retrievability:
Records in this system will be retrieved by the individual's SSN and/or name.
Safeguards:
Security measures include the use of access codes to enter the computer system which will maintain the data, the storage of computerized records in secured areas which are accessible only to employees who require the information in performing their official duties. SSA employees who have access to the data will be informed of the criminal penalties of the Privacy Act for unauthorized access to or disclosure of information maintained in the system. See 5 U.S.C. § 552a(i)(1).
Contractor personnel having access to data in the system of records will be required to adhere to SSA rules concerning safeguards, access and use of the data.
Retention and disposal:
Records in this system are retained for one year when they pertain to documents provided by and returned to an individual, denial of requests for confidential information, release of confidential information to an authorized third party, and undeliverable material. Records are maintained for at least 7 years when they contain information and/or evidence pertaining to Social Security coverage, wage, and self-employment determinations or when they affect future claims development. Additional information collected may be retained for longer periods for purposes of analysis and process improvement, without regard to individual records.
The means of disposal of the information in this system will be appropriate to the storage medium (e.g., deletion of individual electronic records or shredding of paper records).
System manager(s) and addresses:
Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs Associate Commissioner
Office of Employment Support Programs
Social Security Administration
Notification procedures:
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. 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. (20 C.F.R § 401.45).
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. (20 C.F.R. § 401.45).
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 C.F.R. § 401.45).
Record access procedures:
Same as Notification procedures. Requesters also should reasonable specify the record contents they are seeking. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 C.F.R. § 401.50).
Contesting record procedures:
Same as Notification procedures. Requesters also should reasonably identify the record, specify the information they are contesting, 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 C.F.R. § 401.65).
Record source categories:
Information in this system of records is obtained from information collected from individuals interviewed in person in the SSA FOs or over the telephone, contractors, third parties and from existing systems of records such as the Claims Folder System, 60-0089, Master Beneficiary Record, 60-0090, Master Files of Social Security Numbers (SSN) Holders and SSN Application, 60-0058, and the Supplemental Security Income Record and Special Veterans Benefits, 60-0103.
Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
None.