[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5397-5400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1319]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION


Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended; Altered System of Records

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA)

ACTION: Altered system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)), we 
are issuing public notice of our intent to alter an existing system of 
records, the Master Representative Payee File, 60-0222. The proposed 
alterations will result in an expansion of the existing categories of 
records maintained in the Master Representative Payee File to include:
    (1) Information about representative payee applicants who have been 
convicted of an offense resulting in more than one (1) year 
imprisonment;
    (2) Information about representative payee applicants or payees who 
have an outstanding felony warrant; and
    (3) Information about specific types of organizations which, having 
met certain requirements, may apply and be permitted to charge a fee 
for their payee services.
    All of the proposed alterations are discussed in the Supplementary 
Information section below. We invite public comment on this proposal.

DATES: We filed a report of the proposed altered system of records with 
the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, the Chairman of the House Committee on Government 
Reform, and the Director, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget on January 23, 2006. The proposed 
altered system of records will become effective on March 6, 2006, 
unless we receive comments warranting it not to become effective.

ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may comment on this publication by 
writing to the Executive Director, Office of Public Disclosure, Office 
of the General Counsel, Social Security Administration, Room 3-A-6 
Operations Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 
21235-6401. All comments received will be available for public 
inspection at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margo Wagner, Social Insurance 
Specialist, Disclosure Policy Team, Office of Public Disclosure, Office 
of the General Counsel, Social Security Administration, in Room 3-A-6 
Operations Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 
21235-6401, telephone at (410) 965-1482, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background and Purpose of the Proposed Alterations to the Master 
Representative Payee File System of Records

A. General Background

    The Master Representative Payee File system of records maintains 
information that Social Security field offices use when screening 
applicants to determine suitability as representative payees for Social 
Security claimants and beneficiaries who are incapable of handling 
their Social Security benefits and those who are required by law to 
have payees. The Master Representative Payee File system of records 
currently maintains records about all payees and payee applicants, 
including persons whose certifications as representative payees have 
been revoked or terminated on or after January 1, 1991; persons who 
have been convicted of a violation of section 208 or 1632 of the Social 
Security Act (the Act); persons convicted under other statutes in 
connection with services as a representative payee; and others whose 
certification as a representative payee SSA has revoked due to misuse 
of funds paid under Title II or Title XVI of the Act. The system also 
houses information on persons who are acting or have acted as 
representative payees; representative payee applicants who were not 
selected to serve as representative payees; and beneficiaries/
applicants who are being served by representative payees.

B. Discussion of Proposed Alterations to the Master Representative 
Payee File System of Records

    The Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-203) 
amended section 205(j) of the Act. The amendment, which came into 
effect April 1, 2005, mandates that SSA not appoint payees, or permit 
the continued payee service of those payees, with certain types of 
criminal behaviors. To effectuate this provision which affords better 
protection to Social Security beneficiaries in need of a representative 
payee, SSA proposes an expansion of the collection of data in the 
application process to include:
    1. Information about applicants wanting to serve as representative 
payees who have been imprisoned for more than one (1) year, and
    2. Information about payees or payee applicants who have an 
outstanding fugitive felon warrant.
    In addition to the above, under provisions in section 205(j) in 
existence prior to the implementation of Pub. L. 108-203, SSA will 
collect information about specific types of organizations which, having 
met certain requirements, may apply and be permitted to charge a fee 
for their payee services.

II. Record Storage Medium and Safeguards for the Information Maintained 
in the Proposed Altered Master Representative Payee File System of 
Records

    The Master Representative Payee File system of records maintains 
information in electronic and manual forms. Only authorized SSA 
personnel that have a need for the information in the performance of 
their official duties are permitted access to the information. Security 
measures include the use of access codes to enter the computer system 
that will maintain the data and storage of the computerized records in 
secured areas that are accessible only to employees who require the 
information in performing their official duties. Manually maintained 
records are kept in locked cabinets or in otherwise secure areas.

[[Page 5398]]

III. Effect of the Proposed Alterations to the Master Representative 
Payee File System of Records on the Rights of Individuals

    The proposed alterations to the Master Representative Payee File 
system of records pertain to SSA's responsibilities in collecting and 
maintaining information about representative payee applicants for 
Social Security beneficiaries in cases in which the Commissioner of 
Social Security has determined that the interests of the beneficiaries 
would be better served by their having a representative payee. We will 
adhere to all applicable statutory requirements, including those under 
the Act and the Privacy Act, in carrying out our responsibilities. 
Therefore, we do not anticipate that the proposed alterations will have 
an unwarranted adverse effect on the rights of individuals.

    Dated: January 23, 2006.
Jo Anne B. Barnhart,
Commissioner.


System number:
    60-0222.

System name:
    Master Representative Payee File, Social Security Administration, 
Office of Income Security Programs.

Security classification:
    None.

System Location:
    National Computer Center, Social Security Administration, 6201 
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235. The system database will be 
available by direct electronic access by Social Security field offices 
(FO).
    FO addresses and telephone numbers can be found in local telephone 
directories under ``Social Security Administration,'' (SSA) or by 
accessing www.ssa.gov/regions/regional.html.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    This system maintains information about all payees and payee 
applicants, including persons whose certifications as representative 
payees have been revoked or terminated on or after January 1, 1991; 
persons who have been convicted of a violation of section 208 or 
section 1632 of the Social Security Act, persons convicted under other 
statutes in connection with services as a representative payee, and 
others whose certification as a representative payee SSA has revoked 
due to misuse of funds paid under Title II and Title XVI of the Social 
Security Act; persons who are acting or have acted as representative 
payees; representative payee applicants who were not selected to serve 
as representative payees; representative payee applicants who have been 
convicted of an offense resulting in more than one (1) year 
imprisonment; payees and payee applicants who have an outstanding 
felony warrant; organizational payees who have been authorized to 
collect a fee for their service; and beneficiaries/applicants who are 
being served by representative payees.

Categories of records in the system:
    Records in this system consist of:
    1. Names and Social Security numbers (SSNs) (or employer 
identification numbers (EINs)) of representative payees whose 
certifications for payment of benefits as representative payees have 
been revoked or terminated on or after January 1, 1991, because of 
misuse of benefits under Title II or Title XVI of the Social Security 
Act;
    2. Names and SSNs (or EINs) of all persons convicted of violations 
of sections 208 or 1632 of the Social Security Act;
    3. Names, addresses, and SSNs (or EINs) of persons convicted of 
violations of statutes other than sections 208 and 1632 of the Social 
Security Act, when such violations were committed in connection with 
the individual's service as a Social Security representative payee;
    4. Names, addresses, SSNs, and information about the crime reported 
by the payee for those who have an outstanding felony warrant or who 
have been imprisoned for a period exceeding one (1) year. (An indicator 
will be used in the system to identify persons identified as having an 
outstanding felony warrant);
    5. Names, addresses, and SSNs (or EINs) of representative payees 
who are receiving benefit payments pursuant to section 205(j) or 
section 1631(a)(2) of the Social Security Act;
    6. Names, addresses, and SSNs of individuals for whom 
representative payees are reported to be providing representative payee 
services under section 205(j) or section 1631(a)(2) of the Social 
Security Act;
    7. Names, addresses, and SSNs of representative payee applicants 
who were not selected as representative payees;
    8. Names, addresses, and SSNs of persons who were terminated as 
representative payees for reasons other than misuse of benefits paid to 
them on behalf of beneficiaries/recipients;
    9. Information on the representative payee's relationship to the 
beneficiaries/recipients they serve;
    10. Names, addresses, EINs and qualifying information of 
organizations authorized to charge a fee for providing representative 
payee services;
    11. Codes which indicate the relationship (other than familial) 
between the beneficiaries/recipients and the individuals who have 
custody of the beneficiaries/recipients;
    12. Dates and reasons for payee terminations (e.g., performance not 
acceptable, death of payee, beneficiary in direct payment, etc.) and 
revocations;
    13. Codes indicating whether representative payee applicants were 
selected or not selected;
    14. Dates and reasons representative payee applicants were not 
selected to serve as payees and dates and reasons for changes of payees 
(e.g., beneficiary in direct payment, etc.);
    15. Amount of benefits misused;
    16. Identification number assigned to the claim on which the misuse 
occurred;
    17. Date of the determination of misuse; and
    18. Information about a felony conviction reported by the 
representative payee.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    Sections 205(a), 205(j), 1631(a) of the Social Security Act, and 
the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-203).

Purpose(s):
    Information maintained in this system will assist SSA in the 
representative payee selection process by enabling Social Security 
field offices to more carefully screen applicants and to determine 
their suitability to become representative payees. SSA also will use 
the data for management information and workload projection purposes 
and to prepare annual reports to Congress on representative payee 
activities.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    Disclosure may be made for routine uses as indicated below. 
However, disclosure of any information defined as ``return or return 
information'' under 26 U.S.C. 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code will 
not be disclosed unless authorized by a statute, the Internal Revenue 
Service (IRS), or IRS regulations.
    1. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), a court or other tribunal, 
or another party before such tribunal, when:

[[Page 5399]]

    (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 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 the 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.
    2. To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that 
office made at the request of the subject of the records.
    3. To the General Services Administration and the National Archives 
Records Administration (NARA) under 44 U.S.C. Sec.  2904 and Sec.  
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 the Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Office, Manila, 
Philippines, for the administration of the Social Security Act in the 
Philippines and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region through services 
and facilities of that agency.
    5. To the Department of State for administration of the Social 
Security Act in foreign countries through services and facilities of 
that agency.
    6. To the American Institute, a private corporation under contract 
to the Department of State, for administering the Social Security Act 
on Taiwan through facilities and services of that agency.
    7. To the Department of Justice for:
    (a) Investigating and prosecuting violations of the Social Security 
Act to which criminal penalties attach,
    (b) Representing the Commissioner of Social Security, and
    (c) Investigating issues of fraud or violations of civil rights by 
officers or employees of the Social Security Administration.
    8. To the Office of the President for responding to an inquiry 
received from that individual or from a third party acting on that 
individual's behalf.
    9. To the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) for the shared 
administration of DVA's and the Social Security Administration's 
representative payee programs.
    10. To contractors and other Federal Agencies, as necessary, for 
the purpose of assisting the Social Security Administration (SSA) in 
the efficient administration of its programs. We will disclose 
information under this routine use only in situations in which SSA may 
enter into a contractual or similar agreement to obtain assistance in 
accomplishing an SSA function relating to this system of records.
    11. To a third party such as a physician, social worker, or 
community service worker, who has, or is expected to have, information 
which is needed to evaluate one or both of the following:
    (a) The claimant's capability to manage or direct the management of 
his/her affairs.
    (b) Any case in which disclosure aids investigation of suspected 
misuse of benefits, abuse or fraud, or is necessary for program 
integrity, or quality appraisal activities.
    12. To a third party, where necessary, information pertaining to 
the identity of a payee or payee applicant, the fact of the person's 
application for or service as a payee, and, as necessary, the identity 
of the beneficiary, to obtain information on employment, sources of 
income, criminal justice records, stability of residence and other 
information relating to the qualifications and suitability of 
representative payees or representative payee applicants to serve as 
representative payees or their use of the benefits paid to them under 
section 205(j) or section 1631(a) of the Social Security Act.
    13. To a claimant or other individual authorized to act on his/her 
behalf information pertaining to the address of a representative payee 
applicant or a selected representative payee when this information is 
needed to pursue a claim for recovery of misapplied or misused 
benefits.
    14. To the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) for the administration 
of RRB's representative payment program.
    15. 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.
    16. To the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for the 
administration of OPM's representative payee programs.
    17. To the Secretary of Health and Human Services or to any State, 
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.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Records are stored in magnetic media (e.g., magnetic tape, 
microfilm, and disc) and manual forms.

Retrievability:
    Data are retrieved from the system by the SSN or the ZIP code and 
name (in a situation where the representative payee is an organization) 
of the representative payee, or the SSN of the beneficiary/recipient.

Safeguards:
    For computerized records electronically transmitted between Central 
Office and FO locations (including organizations administering SSA 
programs under contractual agreements), safeguards include a lock/
unlock password system, exclusive use of leased telephone lines, a 
terminal-oriented transaction matrix, and an audit trail. All microfilm 
files are accessible only by authorized personnel who have a need for 
the information in performing their official duties. Magnetic tapes are 
in secured storage areas accessible only to authorized personnel. 
Access http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/bluebook/app_g.htm for 
additional information relating to SSA data security measures.

Retention and disposal:
    National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) guidelines will 
be followed for retention and disposal of records in the Master 
Representative Payee File. Changes are being made to the Master 
Representative Payee File to ensure NARA compliance. To prevent lost of 
data, back-up files are maintained on disk file cartridges and are 
destroyed after two weeks.

System manager(s) and address:
    Associate Commissioner, Office of Income Security Programs, Social 
Security Administration, Room 252 Altmeyer Building, 6401 Security 
Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235.

[[Page 5400]]

Notification procedures:
    An individual can determine if this system contains data about him/
her by writing to the systems manager at the address shown above 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 data in person should provide the same information, as 
well as provide any 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 access 
to records concerning another individual under false pretense is a 
criminal offense.
    These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 
401.40(c)).

Record access procedures:
    Same as Notification procedures. Also, a requester should 
reasonably identify and specify the information he/she is attempting to 
obtain. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 
401.40(c)).

Contesting record procedures:
    Same as Notification procedures. Requester 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 incomplete, 
untimely, inaccurate or irrelevant. These procedures are in accordance 
with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.65(a)).

Record source categories:
    Data in this system are obtained from representative payee 
applicants and representative payees, the SSA Office of Inspector 
General, and other SSA systems of records such as the Claims Folder 
System, 60-0089; Master Beneficiary Record, 60-0090; Supplemental 
Security Income Record and Special Veterans Benefits, 60-0103; Master 
Files of SSN Holders and SSN Applications, 60-0058; and Recovery of 
Overpayments, Accounting and Reporting, 60-0094.

Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
    None.

 [FR Doc. E6-1319 Filed 1-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P