Effective Date: January 11, 2006

(71 F.R. 1806)

 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974

 

SYSTEM NUMBER: 60-0010

 

System name:

 

    Hearing Office Tracking System of Claimant Cases, Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals.

 

Security classification:

 

    None.

 

System Location:

 

All Hearing Offices: contact the system manager at the address below or access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_f.htm for Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Hearings and Appeals hearing office address information.

 

Program Service Centers (PSC): contact the system manager at the address below or access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_a.htm for PSC address information.

 

Categories of individuals covered by the system:

 

    Claimants--Title II (Retirement and Survivors Insurance (RSI) and Disability Insurance (DI)); Title VIII (Special Veterans Benefits); Title XI (claimants subject to Professional Standards Review); Title XVI Supplemental Security Income; and Title XVIII (HI). Effective

October 1, 2005, SSA only has jurisdiction to determine eligibility for Title XVIII benefits, not the benefit amount.

 

Categories of in the system:

 

    Social Security number (SSN), claimant name, type of claim, hearing request receipt date, last action date, location of case within hearings process (Assigned to name/date: pre-hearing, scheduling, hearing, post-hearing, disposition date, routing and transfer).

 

Authority for maintenance of the system:

 

    Sections 205, 1631(d)(1) and 1872 of the Social Security Act.

 

Purpose:

 

    The purpose of this system is to track hearing office workload from the receipt of a request for hearing until the final hearing level disposition (decision or dismissal).

 

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:

   

 

    1. To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that office made at the request of the subject of a record.

 

    2. 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 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.

 

    3. To the General Services Administration and the National Archives and 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.

 

    4. 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.

 

    5. To the Secretary of Health and Human Services or to any State, the Commissioner shall disclose any record or information requested in writing by the Secretary for the purpose of administering any program administered by the Secretary, if records or information of such type were so disclosed under applicable rules, regulations and procedures in effect before the date of enactment of the Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994.

 

    6. 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:

 

    The records are maintained electronically or in paper format.

 

Retrievability:

 

    Records are retrieved by SSN.

 

Safeguards:

 

    Access to, and use of, the records is limited to those employees whose official duties require access and use. System security for automated records has been established in accordance with the Systems Security Handbook. All employees are instructed in SSA confidentiality rules as part of their initial orientation training.

Access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_g.htm for additional information relating to SSA data security measures.

 

Retention and disposal:

 

    As each case is completed, the electronic record is transferred to an archive. It is retained in the archive file for two years and then erased. Paper records are disposed of by shredding when no longer needed.

 

System manager(s) and address:

 

            Associate Commissioner

          Office of Hearings and Appeals

          Social Security Administration

          5107 Leesburg Pike

          Falls Church, VA 22041

 

Notification procedure:

 

    An individual can determine if this system contains a record about him/her by writing to the appropriate hearing office (contact the system manager at the above address or access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_f.htm for hearing office address information).

 

    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 Regulations (20 CFR 401.40(c)).

 

Contesting record procedures:

 

    Same as Notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably identify the record, 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 untimely, incomplete, inaccurate or irrelevant. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations 20 CFR 401.65(a)).

 

Record source categories:

 

    Records in the system are derived from hearing office personnel and from information on incoming cases.

 

Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:

 

    None.