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.
8. We
may disclose information to appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies,
entities, and persons when (1) we suspect or confirm that the security or
confidentiality of information in this system of records has been compromised;
(2) we determine that as a result of the suspected or confirmed compromise
there is a risk of harm to economic or property interests, identity theft or fraud,
or harm to the security or integrity of this system or other systems or
programs of SSA that rely upon the compromised information; and (3) we
determine that disclosing the information to such agencies, entities, and
persons is necessary to assist in our efforts to respond to the suspected or
confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm. SSA will use
this routine use to respond only to those incidents involving an unintentional
release of its records.
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.