[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52948-52949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-25174]
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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Privacy Act of 1974; Report of New Routine Use
AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).
ACTION: New routine use.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C.
552a(e)(4) and (11)), we are notifying the public of our intent to add
a routine use statement to the systems notices for the following
systems of records:
Black Lung Payment System, 09-60-0045;
Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and
SSN Applications, 09-60-0058;
Earnings Recording and Self-Employment Income System, 09-
60-0059;
Master Beneficiary Record, 09-60-0090;
Supplemental Security Income Record, 09-60-0103.
We last published a notice in the Federal Register pertaining to
system 09-60-0045 at 59 FR 46439, September 8, 1994; pertaining to 09-
60-0058 at 60 FR 16155, March 29, 1995; pertaining to 09-60-0059 at 59
FR 66551, December 27, 1994; pertaining to 09-60-0090 and 09-60-0103 at
60 FR 2144, January 6, 1995.
The proposed routine use will permit SSA to disclose information
about individuals without their consent to parties conducting
epidemiological and similar research when those disclosures are
required by section 1106(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1306(d)), which was added by section 311 of the Social Security
Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-296
(SSIPIA), and amended by section 108(b) of the SSIPIA.
We invite public comments on this publication.
DATES: We filed a report of an altered system of records with the
Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, the House Committee on
Government Reform and Oversight, and the Office of Management and
Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, on September 29,
1995. The proposed routine use will become effective as proposed,
without further notice, on November 20, 1995, unless we receive
comments on or before that date which would warrant our preventing the
alteration from taking effect.
ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may comment on this proposal by
writing to the SSA Privacy Officer. The mailing address is 3-A-6
Operations Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland
21235; telephone 410-965-1736. Comments may be faxed to 410-966-0869.
All comments received will be available for public inspection at the
above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Peter J. Benson, Office of
Disclosure Policy, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235;
telephone 410-965-1736.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background of the Proposed Routine Use
SSA previously disclosed information about vital status and
verified SSNs for epidemiological and similar research, under the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552). We applied a balancing
test to determine whether such information was exempt from disclosure
under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6), under which we weighed the public interest in
disclosure against individual privacy interests. Using this test, we
determined that disclosures for epidemiological research were required
under the FOIA.
However, the Supreme Court, in United States Department of Justice
v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749 (1989),
determined that the only public interest in disclosure that could be
considered under the balancing test of exemption (b)(6) of the FOIA was
whether the disclosure would inform the public of how the Federal
government carries out its statutory obligations. As a result of this
ruling, we discontinued making disclosures for epidemiological research
under the FOIA, because those disclosures do not serve the public
interest identified in the Reporters Committee ruling.
Section 311 of the SSIPIA, enacted in 1994, added a new subsection
(d) to section 1106 of the Social Security Act. The new section
1106(d), as further amended by section 108(b) of the SSIPIA, requires
SSA to disclose upon request ``information regarding whether an
individual is shown on the records of [SSA] as being alive or deceased
* * * for purposes of epidemiological or similar research * * *'' when
certain conditions are met:
SSA, in consultation with the Department of Health and
Human Services, finds that the research involved ``may reasonably be
expected to contribute to a national health interest;''
The requesting party agrees to reimburse SSA for the cost
of providing the information; and
The requesting party agrees to comply with safeguards and
limitations specified by SSA on rerelease and redisclosure of such
information.
SSA may not disclose under section 1106(d) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1306(d)) information concerning an individual's death if
such disclosure would violate a contract between SSA and the State
which furnished such information under section 205(r) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)).
Hence, SSA now proposes to resume disclosing, for epidemiological
and similar research, information as to whether SSA's records indicate
that a person is alive or dead. SSA will not release death information
in violation of any contract entered into pursuant to section 205(r) of
the Social Security Act.
When a person is not a beneficiary and SSA has no record of death
or of recent earnings, the requester will be informed that SSA has no
information about the person's vital status.
Specifically, we propose to add the following routine use to the
above listed systems:
``Information as to whether an individual is alive or deceased may
be disclosed pursuant to section 1106(d) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1306(d)), upon request, for purposes of an epidemiological or
similar research project, provided that:
(a) SSA determines, in consultation with the Department of Health
and Human Services, that the research may reasonably be expected to
contribute to a national health interest;
(b) The requester agrees to reimburse SSA for the costs of
providing the information; and
(c) The requester agrees to comply with any safeguards and
limitations specified by SSA regarding rerelease or redisclosure of the
information.''
B. Compatibility of the Proposed Routine Use
The Privacy Act and SSA's disclosure regulation (20 CFR 401.310)
permit us to disclose information about individuals without their
consent for a routine use, i.e., a use that serves a purpose that is
compatible with the purpose for which we collected the information.
SSA's regulations also state that SSA will disclose when required by
law (20 CFR 401.205).
[[Page 52949]]
In section 1106(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1306(d)),
Congress has established that epidemiological and similar research is
an authorized use of information in SSA's records that indicate that a
person is alive or dead. Section 1106(d) thus establishes the
compatibility of the purposes of that research with the purposes for
which SSA collects those records.
Moreover, Sec. 401.325 of the disclosure regulation permits us to
disclose information under a routine use for statistical and research
purposes if:
We determine that the researcher needs the information in
an identifiable form and will protect individuals from unreasonable and
unwanted contacts;
The activity is designed to increase knowledge about
Social Security programs or other Federal or State income maintenance
or health-maintenance programs or consists of epidemiological or
similar research; and
The recipient agrees to keep the information as a system
of statistical records, to follow appropriate safeguards, to allow our
on-site inspection of those safeguards so that we can be sure the
information is used or redisclosed only for statistical or research
purposes, and to obtain our approval before redisclosing the
information.
Before releasing information to a requester for epidemiological or
similar research under the proposed routine use statement, we will
execute an agreement with the researcher, containing the safeguards and
restrictions required by section 1106(d) of the Social Security Act and
Sec. 401.325 of the regulations.
C. Effect of the Proposed Alteration on the Privacy of Individuals
Under section 1106(d) of the Social Security Act, added by the
SSIPIA, researchers must agree to comply with any restrictions imposed
by SSA regarding safeguarding of the information and limiting
redisclosures as a condition of receiving information under this
routine use. Thus, we do not anticipate that any adverse effects on the
privacy of individuals will result from disclosures under the routine
use statement proposed in this notice.
Dated: September 29, 1995.
Shirley S. Chater,
Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 95-25174 Filed 10-10-95; 8:45 am]
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