[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 46 (Thursday, March 9, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12964-12965]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5632]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Social Security Administration
Privacy Act of 1974; Report of New Routine Use
AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA), Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: New Routine Use.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and
(11)), we are issuing public notice of our intent to establish a new
routine use applicable to the system of records entitled Master Files
of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and SSN Applications, HHS/SSA/
OSR, 09-60-0058. Under agreement with participating States, the
proposed routine use will allow SSA to disclose Social Security numbers
assigned to newborn children to the State in which the births are
registered.
We invite public comment on this publication.
DATES: We filed a report of a new routine use with the Chairman,
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of
Representatives, the Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs of the
Senate, and the Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget on February 28, 1995. The
routine use will become effective as proposed, without further notice,
on April 18, 1995, unless we receive comments on or before that date
which would warrant preventing the routine use from taking effect.
ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may comment on this publication by
writing to the SSA Privacy Officer, Social Security Administration,
Room 3-A-6 Operations Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore,
Maryland 21235. (FAX number: 410/966-0869). All comments received will
be available for public inspection at that address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas E. Price, Social Insurance
Specialist, Confidentiality and Disclosure Branch, Office of Disclosure
Policy, Social Security Administration, 3-A-6 Operations Building, 6401
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235, telephone 410-965-6011.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion of Proposed Routine Use
More than four million children are born each year in the United
States. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has encouraged
application for, and assignment of, Social Security account numbers
(SSN) to children at birth since 1989. To that end, SSA's Enumeration
at Birth (EAB) program allows parents of newborn infants in most States
to request an SSN as part of the State's birth registration process.
When the EAB program is not used, parents can apply for a child's SSN
for income tax purposes at a local SSA field office. State bureaus of
vital statistics (BVS) accumulate the birth registration information
received from hospitals and periodically send SSA an electronic file
with the data needed to assign SSNs to the individuals in the file. SSA
processes the file, assigns the SSNs, and sends an SSN card for each
newborn to the child's parents.
Under the EAB program, SSA does not send the child's SSN to the
State BVS unless the parents have agreed. Seven States now ask for
parental consent to allow the child's SSN to become part of the birth
record.
The proposed routine use would permit SSA to send the SSNs of
newborns, and as a one time disclosure, the SSNs of children born since
December 31, 1990, to the State BVS in which a birth is recorded
without having to secure parental consent. The SSN would become part of
the confidential portion of the birth record. Parents would also be
given the option of requesting that their child's SSN not be included
in the birth record.
States could use these SSNs as the primary identifying numbers in
administering public health and income maintenance programs and in
statistical research and evaluation projects. Public health program
uses of the SSNs would include, but are not limited to, establishing
public immunization registries, ensuring complete birth record
registration by matching vital records with neonatal test results,
conducting studies of factors contributing to infant mortality by
linking birth and death records, and evaluating the efficacy of
intervention programs such as the Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
nutrition program, ``Healthy Start'' or other health maintenance
programs. Income maintenance program purposes for which the States
could use the SSNs include verifying the identity of applicants for
services to families and children.
In all research and statistical studies involving record linkages
with other data bases, the SSNs provided under this routine use would
serve as the primary matching key, but would not be released for public
use. Once the records are linked and a data set created, the personal
identifying information (including SSNs) is usually removed. The
resulting data set is used for aggregate analysis. Personal identifiers
are retained in the data set only when they are determined to be
necessary to the outcome of the study by an Institutional Review Board
(IRB). Internal IRBs review all proposals for health research on human
subjects in institutions conducting such research. IRBs also examine
proposed protocols of investigations to determine if any unwarranted
harm to individuals would result from the use of identifying data.
One benefit of the proposed new routine use is the potential value
of the SSN to statewide Childhood Immunization Registries. Ensuring
that all children complete the recommended series of immunizations (14
to 15 doses of vaccines by the second birthday) is the main goal of
immunization programs. Although approximately 95% of all children in
the United States begin the recommended series of immunizations, only
about half complete the series by two years of age, a critical period
for childhood disease prevention.
Statewide immunization information systems are a partial response
to the problem of incomplete immunizations. Evaluating the immunization
status of individuals is difficult because roughly 40% of children
receive their immunizations from two or more providers and many parents
do not [[Page 12965]] maintain accurate records. In a joint effort,
State and Federal agencies are working together to create, in each
State, a statewide childhood immunization registry which contains, for
each individual, not the details of the immunization history, but the
location of the immunization information system that contains the
history.
In such a system, immunization details would be maintained locally
by providers themselves in their own data systems. Subject to
applicable privacy safeguards and requirements, including the consent
of parents or guardians when legally required, a statewide record
system would provide a means for exchanging immunization information
between providers when (and only when) necessary, transferring
immunization histories when individuals move from one State to another,
and assessing the immunization status of the State and nation. Using
the SSN as the primary identifying record number would facilitate the
process and lower the cost of creating and operating a national network
of coordinated statewide immunization registries. To ensure that the
registries contain a complete census of preschool children for the
purposes described in the routine use proposal, SSA will, on a one
time, retroactive basis, provide the participating States' BVSs with
the SSNs of children born after December 31, 1990.
SSA discloses information from its systems of records to certain
entities that use the information for a purpose that is compatible with
the purpose for which SSA collects it. Such disclosures may include
providing an individual's correct SSN to an entity which has either no
record of the individual's SSN or an incorrect one, or verifying only
the fact that an entity has an individual's correct SSN. In the case of
State BVSs, SSA would provide the correct SSN or verify correct SSNs
under the proposed routine use.
The proposed routine use will read as follows:
To State vital records and statistics agencies, the SSNs of newborn
children for administering public health and income maintenance
programs, including conducting statistical studies and evaluation
projects.
We are not publishing in its entirety the notice of the system of
records to which we are adding the new routine use statement. A notice
of that system, the Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN)
Holders and SSN Applications, HHS/SSA/OSR, 09-60-0058, was last
published in the Federal Register at 60 FR 2144, January 6, 1995.
II. Compatibility of Proposed Routine Use
We are proposing the changes discussed above in accordance with the
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(7), (b)(3), and (e)(11)) and our
disclosure regulation (20 CFR 401.310).
As discussed above, the Privacy Act permits us to disclose
information about individuals without their consent for a routine use,
i.e., for a purpose that is compatible with the purpose for which we
collected the information. Consistent with the Privacy Act, under 20
CFR 401.310 we may disclose information under a routine use for
administering our programs, for income or health maintenance programs
of other agencies, and for epidemiological and similar research. SSA
assigns SSNs to children as personal identifiers for efficient
administration of the Social Security Act (Act), based in part on
section 205(c)(2)(B)(i)(IV) of the Act, which authorizes SSA to take
affirmative measures to assure that SSNs are assigned to below school
age children at the request of their parents or guardians, and for
helping detect and deter the illegal conduct described in section
208(a)(7) of the Act. States have authority under their own laws to
create and maintain State registries of births. They have a compelling
interest in protecting the integrity of their birth registries and in
preventing birth certificate fraud. The internal use by States of SSNs
for identification purposes, efficient administration of health and
income maintenance programs, and statistical studies is compatible with
the purposes for which SSA assigns and maintains SSNs and, thus, meets
the criteria for the establishment of a routine use under the Privacy
Act and the regulation.
III. Effect of the Proposal on Individual Rights
As discussed above, the proposed new routine use will permit SSA to
send the SSNs of newborns to State BVSs in which the births are
recorded. The SSN would thus become part of the confidential portion of
the birth record and would be available only for State use in health
and income maintenance administration and research. It would not appear
on the public portion of the record, the birth certificate. Strict
protection of the confidentiality of the SSN by the State is required
by Federal law. SSA will follow all statutory and regulatory
requirements for disclosure. Agreements between SSA and the States will
govern access to the SSNs and will incorporate the required statutory
and regulatory safeguards. In addition, the agreements will include a
provision that requires States to notify parents that they may request
that their child's SSN be removed from the birth record. Thus, we do
not anticipate that the proposed disclosure to the States will have any
adverse effect on the privacy or other rights of individuals.
Dated: February 28, 1995.
Shirley S. Chater,
Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 95-5632 Filed 3-8-95; 8:45 am]
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