[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 108 (Thursday, June 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34477-34481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12067]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2020-0004]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, Social Security 
Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act, we are issuing public 
notice of our intent to modify an existing system of records entitled, 
Electronic Disability Claim File (60-0320), hereinafter referred to as 
the eDib Claim File, last published on December 22, 2003. This notice 
publishes details of the modified system as set forth below under the 
caption, SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

DATES: The system of records notice (SORN) is applicable upon its 
publication in today's Federal Register, with the exception of the 
routine uses, which are effective July 6, 2020. We invite public 
comment on the routine uses or other aspects of this SORN. In 
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11), the public is given a 
30-day period in which to submit comments. Therefore, please submit any 
comments by July 6, 2020.

ADDRESSES:  The public, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and 
Congress may comment on this publication by writing to the Executive 
Director, Office of Privacy and Disclosure, Office of the General 
Counsel, SSA, Room G-401 West High Rise, 6401 Security Boulevard, 
Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401, or through the Federal e-Rulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, please reference docket number 
SSA-2020-0004. All comments we receive will be available for public 
inspection at the above address and we will post them to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Tookes, Government Information 
Specialist, Privacy Implementation Division, Office of Privacy and 
Disclosure, Office of the General Counsel, SSA, Room G-401 West High 
Rise, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401, 
telephone: (410) 966-5855, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We are modifying the system of records name 
from ``eDib Claim File, Social Security Administration, Deputy 
Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs'' to 
``Electronic Disability (eDib) Claim File'' to accurately reflect the 
system. We are modifying the system manager to clarify the name of the 
office.
    In addition, we are clarifying the categories of individuals 
covered by the system of records and expanding the categories of 
records to include vendor information concerning medical examiners or 
medical providers from whom SSA obtains medical records to support 
medical disability determinations. Specific identifying information 
concerning the vendor could include name, address, telephone number, 
tax identification number or employer identification number.
    We are modifying the categories of records to include beneficiary 
notice control number (BNC). Section 2 of the Social Security Number 
Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 (H.R. 624, Pub. L. 115-59, hereafter 
referred to as P.L. 115-59), restricts the inclusion of Social

[[Page 34478]]

Security numbers (SSN) on documents the Federal government sends by 
mail. Some of our mailed documents include a placeholder for the 
responder to include the full SSN. Pursuant to P.L. 115-59, we will 
retain the SSN for mailed documents that we determined are ``mission 
critical'' and require an SSN to facilitate our business processes. The 
remaining mailed documents that are not mission critical will have the 
SSN removed and replaced with a BNC. We also clarified that this system 
contains data from other SSA systems of records.
    We are modifying the eDib Claim File to include the Disability Case 
Processing System (DCPS). DCPS modernizes the technology infrastructure 
that supports disability case processing nationwide. DCPS contains 
information from SSA and Disability Determination Services (DDS) 
personnel, disability applicants, disability claimants or individuals 
authorized to represent them, beneficiaries, third parties (e.g., 
medical examiners and medical providers). DCPS interfaces with existing 
SSA disability claims systems to gather information needed to process 
disability claims and make final disability determinations.
    The Disability Vendor Repository (DVR) is maintained within DCPS. 
The DVR is where we maintain a list of medical examiners and medical 
providers. The DVR contains vendor information that supports the 
disability determination process; specifically, medical evidence 
requests, consultative exam requests, medical and non-medical 
assistance requests, and fiscal processes.
    We are deleting routine use No. 17, of the prior version of the 
SORN, as it is no longer applicable and no longer a condition of the 
individual's eligibility for payment under section 1611(e)(3) of the 
Social Security Act. This routine use permitted disclosures to 
institutions or facilities approved for the treatment of drug addicts 
or alcoholics. We are also adding a routine use to permit disclosures 
to contractors, cooperative agreement awardees, Federal and State 
agencies, and Federal congressional support agencies for research and 
statistical activities. In the past, we disclosed information from this 
system of records to the entities listed above under our efficient 
administration routine use. We are establishing this new routine use to 
distinguish disclosures that we make specifically for research 
purposes. We are also modifying the policies and practices for the 
retrieval of records to clarify that we will also retrieve records by 
BNC.
    Lastly, we are modifying the notice throughout to correct 
miscellaneous stylistic formatting and typographical errors of the 
previously published notice, and to ensure the language reads 
consistently across multiple systems. We are republishing the entire 
notice for ease of reference.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), we provided a report to OMB 
and Congress on this modified system of records.

Matthew Ramsey,
Executive Director, Office of Privacy and Disclosure, Office of the 
General Counsel.

SYSTEM NAME:
    Electronic Disability (eDib) Claim File, 60-0320.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The eDib Claim Files are virtually established in Social Security 
Administration (SSA) field offices when claims for benefits are filed, 
or a lead is expected to result in a claim. The electronic records are 
maintained at: Social Security Administration, Office of Systems, 
National Computer Center, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Social Security Administration, Deputy Commissioner of Retirement 
and Disability Policy, Office of Disability Policy, 6401 Security 
Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Sections 202-205, 216, 221, 223, 226, 228, 1611, 1614, 1631, 1818, 
1836, and 1840 of the Social Security Act, as amended.

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The eDib Claim File contains material related to the request for or 
continuation of benefit payments under Titles II and XVI of the Social 
Security Act. We will use the information in this system for purposes 
of pursuing claims; collecting, documenting, organizing and maintaining 
information and documents for making determinations of eligibility for 
disability benefits, the amount of benefits, the appropriate payee for 
benefits; reviewing continuing eligibility; holding hearings or 
administrative review processes; ensuring that proper adjustments are 
made based on events affecting entitlement; and answering inquiries. We 
may also use eDib claim files for quality review, evaluation, and 
measurement studies, and other statistical and research purposes. We 
may maintain extracts as interviewing tools, activity logs, records of 
claims clearance, and records of type or nature of actions taken.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    This system maintains information about claimants and those acting 
on their behalf, applicants, beneficiaries and potential claimants for 
disability benefits and payments administered by SSA. The system also 
maintains information about medical examiners and medical providers.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    This system maintains records that include, but are not limited to, 
the name, Social Security number (SSN), and date of birth of the 
claimant or potential claimant and may contain the application for 
benefits; supporting evidence and documentation for initial and 
continuing entitlement (e.g., diagnosis, beginning and end dates of 
disability, basis for disability determination, copies of medical 
reports, work history, educational level, reexamination date (if 
applicable)); date of application; payment documentation; 
correspondence to and from claimants or representatives; information 
about representative payees; information received from third parties 
regarding claimants' potential entitlement; BNC; vendor information 
concerning medical examiners or medical providers from whom SSA obtains 
medical records to support medical disability determinations; data 
collected as a result of inquiries and complaints or evaluation and 
measurement studies, which assess the effectiveness of claims policies; 
records of certain actions entered directly into the computer 
processes, which include reports of changes of address, work status and 
other post-adjudicative actions; and abstracts used for statistical 
purposes (e.g., disallowances, technical denials, and demographic and 
statistical information relating to disability decisions).
    The system may also include names and titles of persons making or 
reviewing the determination and certain administrative data as well as 
data relative to the location of the file and the status of the claim.
    Finally, this system includes medical examiners' and medical 
providers' names, address, tax identification number or employee 
identification number, and an indicator when the medical examiner or 
medical provider is listed on the Department of Health and Human 
Services Office of Inspector

[[Page 34479]]

General's List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE). The LEIE 
list identifies medical providers or medical examiners who may provide 
medical evidence to SSA that we cannot accept.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    We obtain information in this system from claimants, beneficiaries, 
applicants and recipients; accumulated by SSA from reports of employers 
or self-employed individuals; various local, State, and Federal 
agencies, including from the LEIE; claimant representatives; and other 
sources that support factors of entitlement and continuing eligibility, 
(i.e., information received from third parties regarding claimant's 
potential entitlement or eligibility). This system also contains data 
from other SSA systems of records, including the Claims Folder (SORN 
60-0089).

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    We will disclose records pursuant to the following routine uses; 
however, we will not disclose any information defined as ``return or 
return information'' under 26 U.S.C. 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code 
(IRC), unless authorized by statute, the Internal Revenue Service 
(IRS), or IRS regulations.
    1. To the Office of the President in response to an inquiry from 
that office made on behalf of, and at the request of, the subject of 
the record or a third party acting on the subject's behalf.
    2. To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that 
office made on behalf of, and at the request of, the subject of the 
record or third party acting on the subject's behalf.
    3. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), a court or other tribunal, 
or another party before such court or tribunal, when:
    (a) SSA, or any component thereof; or
    (b) Any SSA employee in his or her official capacity; or
    (c) Any SSA employee in his or 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 
the litigation is likely to affect SSA or any of its components,

    is a party to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation, 
and we determine 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, the 
agency determines that disclosures of the records to DOJ, court or 
other tribunal, or another party is a use of the information contained 
in the records that is compatible with the purpose for which the 
records were collected.
    4. To third party contacts (e.g., employers and private pension 
plans) in situations where the party to be contacted has, or is 
expected to have, information relating to the individual's capability 
to manage his or her benefits or payments, or his or her eligibility 
for or entitlement to benefits or eligibility for payments, under the 
Social Security program when:
    (a) The individual is unable to provide information being sought. 
An individual is considered to be unable to provide certain types of 
information when:
    i. He or she is incapable or of questionable mental capability;
    ii. He or she cannot read or write;
    iii. He or she cannot afford the cost of obtaining the information;
    iv. He or she has a hearing impairment, and contacts us via 
telephone through a telecommunications relay system operator;
    v. A language barrier exists; or
    vi. The custodian of the information will not, as a matter of 
policy, provide it to the individual; OR
    (b) The data is necessary to establish the validity of evidence or 
to verify the accuracy of information presented by the individual, and 
it concerns one or more of the following:
    i. His or her eligibility for benefits under the Social Security 
program;
    ii. The amount of his or her benefit or payment; or
    iii. Any case in which the evidence is being reviewed as a result 
of suspected abuse or fraud or concern for program integrity, quality 
appraisal, or evaluation and measurement activities.
    5. To third party contacts, where necessary, to establish or verify 
information provided by representative payees or payee applicants.
    6. To a person (or persons) on the rolls when a claim is filed by 
an individual which is adverse to the person on the rolls, i.e.,
    (a) An award of benefits to a new claimant precludes an award to a 
prior claimant; or
    (b) An award of benefits to a new claimant will reduce the benefit 
payments to the individual(s) on the rolls, but only for information 
concerning the facts relevant to the interest of each party in a claim.
    7. To employers, current or former, for correcting or 
reconstructing earnings records and for Social Security tax purposes.
    8. To the Department of Treasury for:
    (a) Collecting Social Security taxes, or as otherwise pertinent to 
tax and benefit payment provisions of the Act, including SSN 
verification services; and
    (b) Investigating alleged theft, forgery, or unlawful negotiation 
of Social Security checks.
    9. To the United States Postal Service, for investigating the 
alleged theft or forgery of Social Security checks.
    10. To DOJ, for the purposes of:
    (a) Investigating and prosecuting violations of the 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 SSA employees.
    11. To the Department of State, for administration of the Social 
Security Act in foreign countries through facilities and services of 
that agency.
    12. To the American Institute, a private corporation under contract 
to the Department of State, for administering the Social Security Act 
in Taiwan through facilities and services of that agency.
    13. To the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 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.
    14. To the Department of Interior and its agents, for the purpose 
of administering the Social Security Act in the Northern Mariana 
Islands through facilities and services of that agency.
    15. To State Social Security administrators, for administering 
agreements pursuant to section 218 of the Act.
    16. To private medical and vocational consultants, for use in 
preparing for, or evaluating the results of, consultative medical 
examinations or vocational assessments which they were engaged to 
perform by SSA or a State agency, in accordance with sections 221 or 
1633 of the Social Security Act.
    17. To specified business and other community members and Federal, 
State, and local agencies for verification of eligibility for benefits 
under section 1631(e) of the Act.
    18. To applicants, claimants, prospective applicants or claimants, 
other than the data subject, their authorized representatives or 
representative payees to the extent necessary to pursue Social Security 
claims and to representative payees when the information pertains to 
individuals for whom they serve as representative payees, for the 
purpose of assisting SSA in administering its

[[Page 34480]]

representative payment responsibilities under the Social Security Act 
and assisting the representative payees in performing their duties as 
payees, including receiving and accounting for benefits for individuals 
for whom they serve as payees.
    19. In response to legal process or interrogatories relating to the 
enforcement of an individual's child support or alimony obligations, as 
required by sections 459 and 460 of the Social Security Act.
    20. To Federal, State, or local agencies (or agents on their 
behalf) for administering income or health maintenance programs, 
including programs under the Social Security Act. Such disclosures 
include the release of information to the following agencies, but are 
not limited to:
    (a) Railroad Retirement Board, for administering provisions of the 
Railroad Retirement and Social Security Acts relating to railroad 
employment, and for administering the Railroad Unemployment Insurance 
Act;
    (b) VA, for administering 38 U.S.C. 1312, and upon request, for 
determining eligibility for, or amount of, veterans' benefits or 
verifying other information with respect thereto pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 
5106;
    (c) Department of Labor, for administering provisions of Title IV 
of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, as amended by the Black 
Lung Benefits Act;
    (d) State agencies for administering the Medicaid program;
    (e) State agencies for making determinations of food stamp 
eligibility under the food stamp program;
    (f) State audit agencies for auditing State supplementation 
payments and Medicaid eligibility considerations; and expenditures of 
Federal funds by the State in support of the Disability Determination 
Services (DDS);
    (g) State welfare departments pursuant to agreements with SSA, for 
administration of State supplementation payments; for enrollment of 
welfare beneficiaries for medical insurance under section 1843 of the 
Social Security Act; and for conducting independent quality assurance 
reviews of SSI recipient records, provided that the agreement for 
Federal administration of the supplementation provides for such an 
independent review; and
    (h) State vocational rehabilitation agencies, State health 
departments, or other agencies providing services to disabled children, 
for consideration of rehabilitation services, per sections 222 and 1615 
of the Social Security Act.
    21. To the Social Security agency of a foreign country, to carry 
out the purpose of an international Social Security agreement entered 
into between the United States and the other country, pursuant to 
section 233 of the Social Security Act.
    22. To the IRS, Department of the Treasury, for the purpose of 
auditing SSA's compliance with the safeguard provisions of the IRC of 
1986, as amended.
    23. To third party contacts (including private collection agencies 
under contract with SSA), for the purpose of their assisting us in 
recovering overpayments.
    24. To the Department of Homeland Security, upon request, to 
identify and locate aliens in the United States pursuant to section 
290(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1360(b)).
    25. To contractors and other Federal agencies, as necessary, for 
the purpose of assisting SSA in the efficient administration of its 
programs. We disclose information under this routine use only in 
situations in which we may enter into a contractual or similar 
agreement with a third party to assist in accomplishing an agency 
function relating to this system of records.
    26. To the Department of Education, addresses of beneficiaries who 
are obligated on loans held by the Secretary of Education or a loan 
made in accordance with 20 U.S.C. 1071, et seq. (the Robert T. Stafford 
Student Loan Program), as authorized by section 489A of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965.
    27. 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 SSA, as 
authorized by law, and they need access to personally identifiable 
information (PII) in SSA records in order to perform their assigned 
agency functions.
    28. To Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies and 
private security contractors, as appropriate, information necessary:
    (a) To enable them to protect the safety of SSA employees and 
customers, the security of the SSA workplace, the operation of SSA 
facilities, or
    (b) To assist investigations or prosecutions with respect to 
activities that affect such safety and security or activities that 
disrupt the operations of SSA facilities.
    29. To the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 
under 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    30. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when:
    (a) SSA suspects or has confirmed that there has been a breach of 
the system of records;
    (b) SSA has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed breach there is a risk of harm to individuals, SSA (including 
its information systems, programs, and operations), the Federal 
Government, or national security; and
    (c) the disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is 
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with SSA's efforts to 
respond to the suspected or confirmed breach or to prevent, minimize, 
or remedy such harm.
    31. To another Federal agency or Federal entity, when SSA 
determines that information from this system of records is reasonably 
necessary to assist the recipient agency or entity in:
    (a) Responding to a suspected or confirmed breach; or
    (b) Preventing, minimizing, or remedying the risk of harm to 
individuals, the recipient agency or entity (including its information 
systems, programs, and operations), the Federal Government, or national 
security, resulting from a suspected or confirmed breach.
    32. To contractors, cooperative agreement awardees, State agencies, 
Federal agencies, and Federal congressional support agencies for 
research and statistical activities that are designed to increase 
knowledge about present or alternative Social Security programs; are of 
importance to the Social Security program or the Social Security 
beneficiaries; or are for an epidemiological project that relates to 
the Social Security program or beneficiaries. We will disclose 
information under this routine use pursuant only to a written agreement 
with us.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    We will maintain records in this system in electronic and paper 
form.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    We will retrieve claim file records by SSN, name, or BNC. We will 
retrieve medical examiner and medical provider records by name and 
employer identification number.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    In accordance with NARA rules codified at 36 CFR 1225.16, we 
maintain records in accordance with the approved NARA Agency-Specific 
Records Schedule N1-47-05-1.

[[Page 34481]]

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    We retain electronic and paper files containing personal 
identifiers in secure storage areas accessible only by our authorized 
employees who have a need for the information when performing their 
official duties. Security measures include, but are not limited to, the 
use of codes and profiles, personal identification number and password, 
and personal identification verification cards. We restrict access to 
specific correspondence within the system based on assigned roles and 
authorized users. We will use audit mechanisms to record sensitive 
transactions as an additional measure to protect information from 
unauthorized disclosure or modification.
    We annually provide our employees and contractors with appropriate 
security awareness training that includes reminders about the need to 
protect PII and the criminal penalties that apply to unauthorized 
access to, or disclosure of PII. See 5 U.S.C. 552a(i)(1). Furthermore, 
employees and contractors with access to databases maintaining PII must 
annually sign a sanction document that acknowledges their 
accountability for inappropriately accessing or disclosing such 
information.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals may submit requests for information about whether this 
system contains a record about them by submitting a written request to 
the system manager at the above address, which includes their name, 
SSN, or other information that may be in this system of records that 
will identify them. Individuals requesting notification of, or access 
to, a record by mail must include: (1) A notarized statement to us to 
verify their identity; or (2) must certify in the request that they are 
the individual they claim to be and that they understand that the 
knowing and willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining 
to another individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense.
    Individuals requesting notification of, or access to, records in 
person must provide their name, SSN, or other information that may be 
in this system of records that will identify them, as well as provide 
an identity document, preferably with a photograph, such as a driver's 
license. Individuals lacking identification documents sufficient to 
establish their identity must certify in writing that they are the 
individual they claim to be and that they understand that the knowing 
and willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to 
another individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense.
    These procedures are in accordance with our regulations at 20 CFR 
401.40 and 401.45.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    Same as record access procedures. Individuals should also 
reasonably identify the record, specify the information they are 
contesting, and state 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 our regulations at 20 CFR 401.65(a).

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Same as record access procedures. These procedures are in 
accordance with our regulations at 20 CFR 401.40 and 401.45.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    68 FR 71210, Electronic Disability Claim File
    72 FR 69723, Electronic Disability Claim File
    83 FR 54969, Electronic Disability Claim File

[FR Doc. 2020-12067 Filed 6-3-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4191-02-P