[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 234 (Thursday, December 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66704-66705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26259]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No: SSA-2019-0052]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Request

    The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a list of 
information collection packages requiring clearance by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with Public Law 104-13, the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, effective October 1, 1995. This notice 
includes one new collection.
    SSA is soliciting comments on the accuracy of the agency's burden 
estimate; the need for the information; its practical utility; ways to 
enhance its quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to minimize burden 
on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. Mail, email, or fax your 
comments and recommendations on the information collection(s) to the 
OMB Desk Officer and SSA Reports Clearance Officer at the following 
addresses or fax numbers.

(OMB)

    Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for SSA, Fax: 
202-395-6974, Email address: [email protected].

(SSA)

    Social Security Administration, OLCA, Attn: Reports Clearance 
Director, 3100 West High Rise, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 
21235, Fax: 410-966-2830, Email address: [email protected].
    Or you may submit your comments online through www.regulations.gov, 
referencing Docket ID Number [SSA-2019-0052].
    The information collection below is pending at SSA. SSA will submit 
it to OMB within 60 days from the date of this notice. To be sure we 
consider your comments, we must receive them no later than February 3, 
2020. Individuals can obtain copies of the collection instruments by 
writing to the above email address.
    Electronic Consent Based Social Security Number Verification--20 
CFR 400.100--0960-NEW. The electronic Consent Based Social Security 
Number Verification (eCBSV) is a fee-based Social Security Number (SSN) 
verification service that will allow permitted entities (a financial 
institution or service provider, subsidiary, affiliate, agent, 
subcontractor, or assignee of a financial institution as defined by 
Section 509 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. 42 USCA 405b(b)(4), Pub. L. 
115-174, Title II, 215(b)(4).) to verify an individual's SSN based on 
the SSN holder's signed consent in connection with a credit transaction 
or any circumstance described in section 604 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b).

Background

    We are creating this system due to section 215 of the Economic 
Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 (Banking 
Bill), Public Law 115-174. Permitted entities will be able to submit an 
SSN, name, and date of birth (DOB) to SSA for verification via an 
application programming interface. The purpose of the information 
collection is for SSA to verify for the permitted entity that the 
submitted name, DOB, and SSN matches, or does not match, the data 
contained in our records. After completing the enrollment process; 
paying for services; and obtaining SSN holder consent, the permitted 
entity submits the names, DOBs, and SSNs of number holders who gave 
valid consents to the eCBSV service. SSA matches the information 
against our Master File, using SSN, name, and DOB. The eCBSV Service 
will respond in real time with a match/no match indicator (and an 
indicator if our records show that the SSN Holder died). SSA does not 
provide specific information on what data elements did not match, nor 
does SSA provide any SSNs or other identifying information. In 
addition, the verification does not authenticate the identity of 
individuals or conclusively prove the individuals we verify are who 
they claim to be.

Consent Requirements

    Under eCBSV, the permitted entity does not submit the number 
holder's consent documents to SSA. SSA requires each permitted entity 
to retain a valid consent for each SSN verification request for a 
period of five years from the date of receipt of the consent form. The 
Banking Bill permits a Financial Institution's service provider, 
subsidiary, affiliate, agent, subcontractor, or assignee to seek 
verification of the SSN Holder's SSN on behalf of a financial 
institution pursuant to the terms of the SSN Holder's consent. In this 
case, the permitted entity shall ensure that the Financial Institution 
use the verification only for the purposes stated in the consent, and 
make no further use or disclosure of the verified SSN. The relationship 
will be subject to the contractual obligations as specified in the User 
Agreement that the permitted entity signs and submits to SSA.

Compliance Review

    SSA requires each permitted entity to undergo compliance reviews to 
ensure the permitted entities obtained valid consent from number 
holders. An SSA approved certified public accountant (CPA) firm will 
conduct the compliance reviews. The reviews will ensure the permitted 
entities meet all terms and conditions of the User Agreement. The eCBSV 
fee will include all compliance review costs. In general, we will 
request annual reviews with additional reviews as necessary. The CPA 
follows review standards established by the American Institute of 
Certified Public Accountants and contained in the Generally Accepted 
Government Audit Standards (GAGAS). At any time, SSA may conduct onsite 
inspections of the requester's site, including a systems review, to 
ensure they adhered to the applicable requirements associated with 
collection and maintenance of consent forms, and to assess systems 
security overall.
    The respondents to the eCBSV collection are the permitted entities; 
members of the public who consent to the SSN verification; and CPAs who 
provide compliance review services.
    Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.

[[Page 66705]]



                                                                       Time Burden
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                                                                                                                              Average
                                                                                          Average burden     Estimated      theoretical    Total annual
                       Requirement                           Number of     Frequency of    per response    total annual     hourly cost     opportunity
                                                            respondents      response        (minutes)    burden (hours)      amount      cost (dollars)
                                                                                                                            (dollars) *         **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Complete eCBSV enrollment process ***...............              10               1             120              20        * $36.98         ** $740
(a) Configure customer system for ability to send in                  10               1           2,400             400         * 36.98       ** 14,792
 verification requests..................................
(a) People whose SSNs SSA will verify--Reading and           307,000,000               1               3      15,350,000         * 10.22  ** 156,877,000
 Signing................................................
(a) Sending in the verification request, calling our         307,000,000               1               1       5,116,667         * 36.98  ** 189,214,346
 system, getting a response.............................
(b) Follow SSA requirements to configure application                  10               1           4,800             800         * 36.98       ** 29,584
 program interface......................................
(c) CPA Compliance Review and Report ****...............              10               1           4,800             800         * 33.89       ** 27,112
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............................................     614,000,040  ..............  ..............      20,468,687  ..............  ** 346,163,574
 
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* We based these figures on average Business and Financial operations occupations and Certified Public Accountants' hourly salaries, as reported by
  Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and per average Disability Insurance (DI) payments, as reported in SSA's DI payment data.
** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather,
  these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to
  respondents to complete the application.
*** The enrollment process entails reviewing and completing eCBSV User Agreement and financial requirements package; visiting the Department of the
  Treasury's Pay.gov to make payment for services; and submitting a permitted entity certification via email.
**** There will be one CPA firm respondent (an SSA-approved contractor) to conduct compliance reviews and prepare written reports of findings on the 10
  permitted entities.

Cost Burden

    The public cost burden is dependent upon the number of permitted 
entities and annual transaction volume. In FY 2019, 10 companies 
enrolled out of 124 applications received to participate in eCBSV. We 
based the cost estimates below on 10 participating permitted entities 
in FY 2020 submitting an anticipated volume of 307,000,000 
transactions. The Banking Bill requires that we collect at least 50 
percent of the start-up costs (i.e., that we collect $9.2 million) 
before we may begin development of the eCBSV verification system. SSA 
will recover the remaining development costs over three years using the 
following tier fee schedule:

                         eCBSV Tier Fee Schedule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Tier                   Volume threshold            Annual fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1                       1-1,000.........................            $400
2                       1,001-10,000....................           3,030
3                       10,001-200,000..................          14,300
4                       200,001-50 million..............         276,500
5                       50,000,001-2 billion............         860,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Each enrolled permitted entity will be required to remit the above 
tier based subscription fee for the 365-day agreement period and the 
appropriate administrative fee. We will charge newly enrolled entities 
a startup administrative fee of $3,693. After the initial year, we will 
charge the entities a renewal administrative fee of $1,691 each time 
the agreement is renewed or amended. We calculated the fees based on 
forecasted systems and operational expenses; agency oversight, overhead 
and CPA audit contract costs.
    In addition, SSA will periodically recalculate costs to provide 
eCBSV services and adjust the fees charged as needed. We will notify 
companies of a fee adjustment at the renewal of the eCBSV User 
Agreement and via notice in the Federal Register; companies have the 
opportunity to cancel the agreement or continue service using the new 
fee.

    Dated: December 2, 2019.
Faye I. Lipsky,
Director, Office of Regulations and Reports Clearance, Social Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-26259 Filed 12-4-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4191-02-P