Effective Date: January 11, 2006
(71 F.R. 1874)
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY
THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
SYSTEM NUMBER: 60-0275
System name:
Civil
Rights Complaints Filed by Members of the Public, 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
600
In the
Office
of the General Counsel
Chief Counsel, Region I
Social Security Administration
Room
625,
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:
Members of the
public who file civil rights complaints against SSA, a component of SSA and/or
present or former SSA employees, alleging discrimination on the basis of
disability, race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or retaliation in
any program or activity
conducted by SSA.
Categories of records in the system:
Personal
identifying information regarding the member of the public who filed the civil
rights complaint, complaint docket number, complaint allegations, information
gathered during the complaint investigation, including witness interviews from
SSA employees or
eyewitnesses to an
allegation of discrimination, findings and results of the investigation,
reconsideration findings, and correspondence and telephone contact reports
related to the complaint and investigation.
Authority for maintenance of the system:
The information
collection is authorized by 5 U.S.C. 301; 29 U.S.C. 791 et.
seq.; 42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5), 1304 note. Those statutes
require SSA not to discriminate on the basis of disability and authorize the
Commissioner to establish policies to prohibit SSA and SSA employees from
discriminating based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or
retaliation in any program or activity conducted by SSA.
Purpose(s):
The file system
is designed to store all civil rights complaints filed by members of the
public, information gathered during the complaint investigation, correspondence
and telephone contact reports related to the complaint and investigation, the
findings and results of all OGC headquarters and regional complaint
investigations, reconsideration decisions, and for retrieval of information
about civil rights complaints. Files are maintained to track civil rights
complaints and to record the findings and results of the complaint
investigations so that OGC may enforce findings, monitor compliance, revise
internal administrative procedures, manage and docket complaints, and provide
status reports.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories
of users and the purposes of such use:
Disclosure may be made for routine uses as
indicated below:
1. To the Department of Justice, the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, or other Federal and State agencies when
necessary for the administration or enforcement of civil rights laws or
regulations.
2. To a congressional office in response to
an inquiry from that office made at the request of the subject of the 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 or 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 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 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.
5. To a Federal, State or local agency for
law enforcement purposes concerning a violation of law pertaining to the
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 Federal, State and 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 operation of SSA facilities; or
(b) To assist in investigations or
prosecutions with respect to activities that disrupt
the operation of SSA facilities.
8. 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.
9. 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) in file cabinets. Some records may
be maintained on Agency computers.
Retrievability:
Records are
retrieved by name of the complainant and/or docket number.
Safeguards:
Office buildings
in which these records are maintained are locked after the close of the
business day. These records are only accessible by General Counsel Staff and
other Agency employees for the processing of complaints or litigation.
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 SSA headquarters OGC or regional OGC offices. They are disposed
of in accordance with the Federal Records Act and applicable retention
schedules.
System manager(s) and address:
Social Security Administration
Office of the General Counsel
Office of General Law
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 contents being sought. These procedures are in accordance with SSA
Regulation (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 correction
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:
Complaint and
information filed with SSA by, or on behalf of, the individual complainant,
witnesses, SSA employees, telephone contact reports, complainant's attorney,
and the alleged discriminator.
System exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
This system is
exempt from certain provisions of the Privacy Act under 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2). Pursuant to SSA regulations at 20 CFR 401.85(b)(2)(ii)(E), this system is exempt from the following
subsections of the Privacy Act: (c)(3), (d)(1)-(4), (e)(4)(G), (H), and (I),
and (f).