[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14435-14438]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04705]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2022-0023]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Notice of a modified system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, we are issuing 
public notice of our intent to modify an existing system of records 
entitled, Repository of Electronic Authentication Data Master File (60-
0373). This notice publishes details of the 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 new 
routine uses, which are effective April 7, 2023.
    We invite public comment on the routine uses or other aspects of 
this SORN. In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, we are providing 
the public a 30-day period in which to submit comments. Therefore, 
please submit any comments by April 7, 2023.

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-2022-0023. 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: Melissa Bellitto, 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 this SORN to accurately 
reflect the information we collect and to further support advancing our 
objectives in continuing and expanding our digital identity processes. 
We are modifying the system of records name from ``Repository of 
Electronic Authentication Data Master File'' to ``Digital Identity File 
Record System.''

[[Page 14436]]

We are adding two new routine uses (1) to permit disclosures to the 
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for auditing purposes of the safeguard 
provisions of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of 1986; and (2) to permit 
disclosures to IRS concerning the digital identity associated with 
electronic wage submissions processed by SSA under section 232 of the 
Social Security Act. We are revising routine use No. 3 to incorporate 
gender-inclusive language, in support of E.O. 13988, ``Preventing and 
Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual 
Orientation.'' Finally, we are clarifying the language in existing 
routine use No. 4 for easier reading.
    In addition, this modification reflects enhancements to our digital 
identity processes that utilize single sign-on, account management, and 
second factor authentication information required by digital identity 
guidance and requirements from the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST), OMB, and the Presidential Executive Order 13800 on 
``Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical 
Infrastructure.'' These enhancements include the evolving use of third-
party credential service providers to ensure secure access to our 
online services and enable us to move towards a shared federated 
identity management platform. To reflect these enhancements, we are 
modifying the category of records maintained in this system to provide 
more clarity to the data we collect as we have updated and expanded our 
digital identity processes. We are also modifying the category of 
individuals and purpose of the system to more accurately cover the 
individuals and uses covered by this system.
    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 AND NUMBER:
    Digital Identity File Record System, 60-0373.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Social Security Administration, Office of Digital Transformation, 
Robert M. Ball Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Social Security Administration, Chief Information Officer, Robert 
M. Ball Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235, (410) 
966-5855.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Sections 205(a) and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (Act), as 
amended, and the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 
(Pub. L. 113-283).

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    We will use the information in this system to assist with SSA's 
digital identity processes and for auditing purposes. Digital identity 
includes functions necessary to establish the identity of individuals 
or an individual interacting with us on behalf of another individual, 
agency, or entity who are seeking access to our digital programs, 
services, and applications through online, electronic, automated, and 
telephone services. Digital identity functions include identity 
proofing, credential issuance and revocation, authentication, identity 
federation, access controls, preference management, and credential 
management. When real-world identity is necessary for a given digital 
service, SSA must be able to determine, with confidence, that 
individuals are who they claim to be through identity proofing.
    We may use information in this system to assist SSA (or other 
Federal agencies when applicable) to prevent or stop suspected or 
confirmed fraud or inappropriate usage of SSA's online services. We may 
also use contact information (e.g., email addresses) from individuals 
who have gone through the digital identity process for program outreach 
(e.g., notification about our programs, online services, and SSA 
events) and other purposes related to our administration of the Social 
Security Act.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    This system maintains information from individuals who interact 
with our digital programs, services, and applications regardless of 
whether the individuals are interacting with us on their own behalf or 
are interacting with us on behalf of another individual, agency, or 
entity. This system covers anyone who we require to obtain a digital 
identity to conduct a transaction with us, including when we use a 
credential service provider (CSP), an identity provider (IdP), or other 
authorized third party to perform some or all credential management 
services (e.g., prove identity, manage authentication credentials, and 
authenticate users).

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    We will maintain information needed for digital identity processes 
dependent on the digital program, service, or application, as well as 
maintain archived transaction and historical data. Examples of 
information that we maintain for digital identity include, but are not 
limited to, the following:
     Name (last, first, middle, and suffix);
     Date of birth;
     Place of birth;
     Banking information including financial account number 
and/or routing number;
     Postal address(es);
     Address(es) from W-2 and Schedule-Self Employed (SE) 
forms;
     Phone number;
     Email address;
     Mother's surname at birth (sometimes referred to as 
mother's maiden name);
     Social Security number (SSN);
     Driver's license or state-issued identification number and 
issuing State or equivalent;
     Images of the identity evidence (e.g., driver's license);
     Employer name and Employer Identification Number (EIN) for 
business and government services;
     Blocked account status;
     Failed access data;
     Effective date of passwords; and
     Other data that allows us to evaluate the system's 
effectiveness.
    We may maintain information that we or the authorized CSP, IdP, or 
third party collects to register, issue, and maintain the credential 
(e.g., to administer multi-factor authentication), including verified 
attributes the authorized CSP, IdP, or third party maintains or passes 
to us after a user successfully passes identity proofing, such as:
     Identity attributes such as name, full or partial SSN, and 
date of birth;
     Email address;
     User ID;
     Phone numbers (primary, alternate, mobile, home, work, 
and/or landline);
     Level of access;
     Transaction ID;
     Pass/fail indicator;
     Date/time of the transaction;
     Codes associated with the transaction;

[[Page 14437]]

     Level of confidence in the provided identity and 
attributes, including indicators of potential risk factors;
     Type of authenticators (e.g., password);
     Self-generated security questions and answers; and
     The identity of the organization and/or individual 
representative or employee performing the identity proofing.
    Other program-specific attribute information that we, a CSP, an 
IdP, or other third party collects directly, or on behalf of us, may 
include:
     Citizenship;
     Accepted terms of service (Y/N);
     Employment information such as job title, job role, and 
organization;
     Business and affiliations;
     Address (e.g., postal address, home address, business 
address(es);
     Justification/nomination for access to our computers, 
networks, or systems;
     Supervisor/nominator's name, job title, organization, 
phone numbers, and email address;
     Verification of training requirements or other 
prerequisite requirements for access to our computers, networks, or 
systems; and
     Government-issued identity document type, number, and 
expiration date; and
     Authorization for access to information when necessary.
    We also maintain records on access to our computers, networks, 
online programs, and applications, including:
     User ID and passwords;
     Registration numbers or IDs associated with our 
Information Technology (IT) resources;
     Date and time of access;
     Logs of activity interacting with our IT resources;
     internet Protocol (IP) address of access;
     Web browser and device information collected from the 
device used to access IT services, including a device fingerprint;
     Logs of internet activity;
     Track opt-in and opt-out of electronic messaging 
selections;
     Records on the authentication of the access request, 
names, phone numbers of other contacts, and positions or business/
organizational affiliations and titles of individuals who can verify 
that the individual seeking access has a need to access the system; and
     Other contact information provided to the agency or that 
is derived from other sources to facilitate authorized access to SSA IT 
resources.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    We obtain information in this system of records from individuals 
seeking access to a service provided by SSA that requires digital 
identity. We also obtain information from existing SSA systems of 
records, CSPs, IdPs, authorized third parties, Federal, State, or local 
agencies, and SSA contractors.

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 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 
received from that office made on behalf of, and at the request of, the 
subject of 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 a 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 their official capacity; or
    (c) any SSA employee in their 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 we determine the 
litigation is likely to affect SSA or any of its components, SSA is a 
party to the 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, we 
determine that such disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which 
the records were collected.
    4. To contractors and other Federal agencies, as necessary, for 
assisting 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 with a third 
party to assist in accomplishing an agency function relating to this 
system of records.
    5. 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 our records in order to perform their assigned 
agency functions.
    6. To the DOJ for investigating and prosecuting violations of the 
Social Security Act.
    7. To the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under 
44 U.SC. 2904 and 2906.
    8. 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.
    9. 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 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.
    10. To IRS, Department of the Treasury, for the purpose of auditing 
SSA's compliance with the safeguard provisions of the IRC of 1986, as 
amended.
    11. To IRS, Department of the Treasury, digital identity 
information associated with electronic wage submissions processed by 
SSA under section 232 of the Social Security Act for the purpose of 
investigating fraud, abuse, or security risks in such wage submissions.

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

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    We will retrieve records in this system by the individual's name 
and associated identifying information, SSN,

[[Page 14438]]

as well as internal transaction and credential identifiers (e.g., 
transaction identification for the internet benefit application, 
transaction identification for an electronic online Direct Deposit 
change, etc.).

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 approved NARA General Records 
Schedules (GRS) 3.2, item 031; GRS 5.2, item 020; and GRS 4.2, item 
130.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    We retain electronic 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 numbers and passwords, 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:
    75 FR 79065, Repository of Electronic Authentication Data Master 
File.
    83 FR 54969, Repository of Electronic Authentication Data Master 
File.

[FR Doc. 2023-04705 Filed 3-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P