How to Make a Privacy Act Amendment or Correction Request

You may file a Privacy Act request that your record within an agency system of records be corrected or amended if you believe that the record is not accurate, timely, complete, relevant, or necessary to the administration of a social security program. See 20 CFR Part 401.65 – How to correct your record.

Understanding Privacy Act Terms - See Code of Federal Regulations § 401.25, Terms Defined

  • A record is any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by SSA.
  • A system of record is a group of records under our control from which information about an individual is retrieved by the name of the individual or by an identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular.
  • The agency’s systems of records are described in systems of records notices, which are published in the Federal Register and available here: SSA system of records notices.

Filing a Request ­– To file a Privacy Act amendment or correction request for your record, take the following steps:

  1. Identify the Privacy Act system of records that contains that record you seek to amend/correct.
  2. Identify the information within the record that you seek to amend or correct.
  3. Write to the manager of the system of records that you would like to request correction or amendment of. The system manager name and address is located in the agency’s published systems of records notices.
    1. Your written request seeking amendment or correction must include:
      1. The system of records from which the record is retrieved;
      2. The particular record which you want to correct or amend;
      3. Whether you want to add, delete or substitute information in the record; and
      4. Your reasons for believing that your record should be corrected or amended.
    2. You should submit any available evidence to support your request. 
    3. You must verify your identity. See Code of Federal Regulations § 401.45. To complete your request, you must provide your identifying information (such as your name, SSN, date of birth, or other information in the system that will identify you) and either:
      1. A notarized statement of identity, or
      2. A certification signed by the subject individual that they are the person they claim to be and understand that the knowing and willful request for or acquisition of a record pertaining to an individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense.

What we will not change – You cannot use the correction process to alter, delete, or amend information which is part of a determination of fact or which is evidence received in the record of a claim in the administrative appeal process. Disagreements with these determinations are to be resolved through the SSA appeal process. For example, you cannot use the correction process to alter or delete a document showing a birth date used in deciding your social security claim.