[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 214 (Friday, November 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66279-66280]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28226]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Privacy Act of 1974; Report of New Routine Use

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Notification of 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 
establish a new routine use of information maintained in the Privacy 
Act system of records entitled Master Files of Social Security Number 
(SSN) Holders and SSN Applications. The proposed new routine use allows 
SSA to verify SSNs for State bureau of vital statistics (BVS) in the 
States' Electronic Death Registration (EDR) process. The EDR process 
will assist SSA in making timely terminations of Social Security 
benefits in death cases.

DATES: We filed a report of the routine use proposal with the President 
of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the 
Director, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget on October 26, 2000. The proposed new routine use 
will become effective on December 5, 2000, unless we receive comments 
on or before that date which could result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may comment on this publication by 
writing to the SSA Privacy Officer, Social Security Administration, 3-
A-6 Operations Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 
21235. All comments received will be available for public inspection at 
the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. Patricia Smith, Office of 
Disclosure Policy, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security 
Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235, telephone (410) 965-1552 or E-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion of the Proposed New Routine Use

A. General

    SSA received funding in fiscal year 1999 to enter into a contract 
with the National Association for Public Health Statistics and 
Information Systems (NAPHSIS) to develop standards and guidelines for 
States to implement an Electronic Death Registration (EDR) Process. EDR 
will result in significant programmatic and workyear savings for SSA, 
in that, SSA will receive more accurate and timely death reports from 
the States.
    Under EDR, SSA's requirements are to receive a death report from 
the State within 24 hours of receipt in the State bureau of vital 
statistics (BVS) and to verify the Social Security number (SSN) at the 
beginning of the death registration process. The result of the 
verification will be that the states will allow SSA to take an 
immediate termination action on those verified numbers without 
independently verifying the accuracy of the report.
    There are many participants in the death registration process 
including hospitals, medical examiners, coroners, funeral homes and 
local and State registrars. The EDR process will require the 
participant who collects the SSN to transmit the request for 
verification to the State BVS who will forward the request to SSA. In 
most states, funeral directors are responsible by State law for 
certifying the accuracy of that portion of the death certificate. SSA 
will send a ``yes'' or a code response if the SSN does not verify. The 
codes are:
     1--SSN not in file (never issued to anyone)
     2--Name and date of birth (DOB) match, sex code does not
     3--Name and sex code match, DOB does not
     4--Name matches, DOB and sex code do not
     5--Name does not match, DOB and sex code not checked.
    The BVS will, in turn, forward the response to the original 
requestor. This will allow the funeral director or whoever made the 
request a chance to obtain better information from the informant in 
cases where the number does not verify.
    Because our records will not have any indication of death at the 
time the SSN verifications are requested, we must treat the 
individuals' records as if they are alive. We, therefore, are proposing 
to establish a new routine use under the Privacy Act to permit the 
verifications. The proposed routine use is applicable to the Privacy 
Act system of records entitled Master Files of Social Security Numbers 
(SSN) and SSN Applications and will appear as routine use number 30 in 
the notice of the system. The routine use provides for the following 
disclosure:

    Disclosures will be made to a State bureau of vital statistics 
(BVS) that is authorized by States to issue electronic death reports 
when the State BVS requests SSA to verify the Social Security number 
of an individual on whom an electronic death report will be filed 
after SSN verification.

B. Compatibility of the Proposed Routine Use

    The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(7) and (b)(3)) and our disclosure 
regulation (20 CFR part 401) permits us to disclose information for 
routine uses; i.e., disclose information about individuals without 
their consents for purposes compatible with the purpose for which the 
information is collected. Section 401.150 of the regulation (20 CFR 
401.150) allows us to disclose information under a routine use to 
administer our programs. The SSN verifications that will be made under 
the proposed routine use would allow SSA to receive timely death 
information from the States that will result in timely termination of 
Social Security benefits when Social Security beneficiaries die. Thus, 
the proposed routine use meets the compatibility criteria of the 
Privacy Act and our disclosure regulation.

[[Page 66280]]

I. Effect of the Proposed Routine Use on the Individuals Rights

    Under the proposed routine use SSN verifications will be provided 
to State BVS for individuals for whom the BVS is preparing an 
electronic death report. Since the individuals would be dead, there 
would be no adverse effects on individual rights. In the event that an 
SSN verification may be inadvertently provided for an individual who is 
alive, the individual's rights would be protected through an agreement 
with the State BVS that restricts their use or disclosure of such 
information.

Kenneth S. Apfel,
Commissioner of Social Security.
[FR Doc. 00-28226 Filed 11-2-00; 8:45 am]
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