§ 402.10 Definitions.

As used in this part:

Agency means the Social Security Administration (SSA). Agency may also refer to any executive department, military department, government corporation, government-controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Federal Government, or any independent regulatory agency. A private organization is not an agency even if it is performing work under contract with the Government or is receiving Federal financial assistance.

Chief FOIA Officer means a senior official of SSA who has an agency-wide responsibility for ensuring efficient and appropriate compliance with the FOIA, monitoring implementation of the FOIA throughout the agency, and making recommendations to the head of the agency to improve the agency's implementation of the FOIA. The Commissioner of SSA designated the General Counsel as the Chief FOIA Officer for SSA. The Chief FOIA Officer or the Chief FOIA Officer's designee is authorized to make final decisions in response to appeals of the FOIA Officer's determinations.

Commercial interest includes interests relating to business, trade, and profit. These interests could be present regardless of the identity of the requester (e.g., individual, non-profit corporation, for-profit corporation). The interest of a representative of the news media in using the information for news dissemination purposes will not be considered a commercial interest.

Commercial use request is a request that asks for information for a use or a purpose that furthers a commercial, trade, or profit interest, which can include furthering those interests through litigation. An agency's decision to place a requester in the commercial use category will be made on a case-by-case basis based on the requester's intended use of the information. Agencies will notify requesters of their placement in this category.

Component means each separate office, division, commission, service, center, or administration within SSA that may maintain agency records subject to a request under the FOIA.

Duplication means the process of reproducing a copy of a record, or of the information contained in it, to the extent necessary to respond to a request. Copies include paper, electronic records, audiovisual materials, and other formats of agency records.

Educational institution is any school that operates a program of scholarly research. A requester in this fee category must show that the request is made in connection with their role at the educational institution. To qualify for this category, a requester must show that the FOIA request is authorized by, and is made under the auspices of or in connection with the requester's role at a qualifying institution and that the records are sought to further a scholarly research goal of the institution, and not for a commercial use or purpose, or for individual use or benefit. SSA may seek verification from the requester that the request is in furtherance of scholarly research and will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

Exemption means one of the nine exemptions to the mandatory disclosure of records permitted under section 552(b) of the FOIA.

Expedited processing means the process set forth in the FOIA that allows requesters to request faster processing of their FOIA request, if they meet specific criteria noted in § 402.65.

Fee category means one of the three categories established by the FOIA to determine whether a requester will be charged fees under FOIA for search, review, and duplication. The categories are: commercial use requests; scientific or educational institutions and news media requests; and all other requests.

Fee waiver means the waiver or reduction of fees if a requester is able to demonstrate the requirements set forth in § 402.85.

FOIA Library means an electronic location(s) that SSA uses to post records that are made available to the public without a specific request. SSA makes FOIA library records electronically available to the public through our website, www.ssa.gov, including at www.ssa.gov/foia. Posted records may include those provided under agency discretion and not required pursuant to FOIA.

FOIA Officer means an SSA official whom the Commissioner of Social Security delegated the authority to release or withhold records; to assess, waive, or reduce fees in response to FOIA requests; and to make all other determinations regarding the processing of a FOIA request. In this capacity, the FOIA Officer is authorized to request and receive responsive records that may be maintained by other agency components. Except for records subject to proactive disclosure pursuant to subsection (a)(2) of the FOIA, only the FOIA Officer has the authority to release or withhold records or to waive fees in response to a FOIA request.

FOIA Public Liaison means an agency official who reports to the agency Chief FOIA Officer and serves as a supervisory official to whom a requester can raise concerns about the service the requester received concerning the processing of the FOIA request. This individual is responsible for increasing transparency in the agency's FOIA business process, helping requesters understand the status of requests, and assisting in the resolution of disputes. The FOIA Public Liaison may be contacted via email to FOIA.Public.Liaison@ssa.gov.

FOIA request means a written request that meets the criteria in § 402.30.

Freedom of Information Act or FOIA means the law codified at 5 U.S.C. 552 that provides the public with the right to request agency records from the Federal executive branch agencies.

Non-commercial scientific institution means an institution that does not further the commercial, trade, or profit interests of any person or entity and is operated for the purpose of conducting scientific research whose results are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.

Numident refers to the “Numerical Identification System,” the SSA system that contains information available on an Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5). The Numident record contains the name of the applicant, place of birth, and other information.

OGC means the Office of the General Counsel.

Online FOIA portal means the electronic application that SSA uses to process FOIA requests. The public may also submit requests directly to SSA via the online FOIA portal.

OPD means the Office of Privacy and Disclosure.

Other requester means any individual or organization whose FOIA request does not qualify as a commercial-use request, representative of the news media request (including a request made by a freelance journalist), or an educational or non-commercial scientific institution request.

Production means the process of preparing the records for duplication, including the time spent in preparing the records for duplication (i.e., materials used, records/database retrieval, employee and contractor time, as well as systems processing time).

Record(s) means any information maintained by an agency, regardless of format, that is made or received in connection with official agency business that is under the agency's control at the time of the FOIA request. Record(s) includes any information maintained for an agency by a third party.

(1) Record(s) does not include personal records of an employee, or other information in formally organized and officially designated SSA libraries and FOIA library, where such materials are available under the rules of the particular library.

(2) Record(s) includes information maintained by the State Disability Determination Services related to performing the disability determination function and medical source information pertaining to consultative examinations performed for the Social Security program when obtained by, created on behalf of, or otherwise, in the control of SSA.

Redact means delete or mark over.

Representative of the news media means any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience. The term “news” means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations that broadcast news to the public at large and publishers of periodicals, including print and online publications that disseminate news and make their products available through a variety of means to the general public. We do not consider FOIA requests for records that support the news-dissemination function of the requester to be a commercial use. We consider “freelance” journalists who demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through a news media entity as working for that entity. A publishing contract provides the clearest evidence that a journalist expects publication; however, we also consider a requester's past publication record. We decide whether to grant a requester media status on a case-by-case basis,.

Request means asking for records, whether or not the requester refers specifically to the FOIA. Requests from Federal agencies, subpoenas, and court orders for documents are not included within this definition.

Review, unless otherwise specifically defined in this part, means examining records responsive to a request to determine whether any portions are exempt from disclosure. Review time includes processing a record for disclosure (i.e., doing all that is necessary to prepare the record for disclosure), including redacting the record and marking the appropriate FOIA exemptions. It does not include the process of resolving general legal or policy issues regarding exemptions.

Search means the process of identifying, locating, and retrieving records responsive to a request, whether in hard copy or in electronic form or format, or by manual or automated/electronic means.

Special services means performing additional services outside of that required under the FOIA to respond to a request. Examples include using an overnight mail service to send the agency's response to a FOIA request.

SS-5 means an Application for a Social Security Card. It is used to request an original, different, or replacement Social Security Card.

SSA means the Social Security Administration.

Submitter means any person or entity that provides trade secrets or commercial or financial information to the agency, and includes individuals, corporations, other organizational entities, and state and foreign governments.

Tolling means temporarily stopping the running of a time limit. We may toll a FOIA request to seek clarification from the requester or to address fee issues, as further described in § 402.60(h).

Trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information means trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information that is obtained by the agency from a submitter, such that it may be protected from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).