Effective 09/08/94 (59 FR 46439)

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974

System Number: 60-0008
System name: 
         Administrative Law Judge Docket of Claimant Cases, SSA/OHA.

Security classification:

        None.

System location:

        All hearing offices of the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) (see Appendix F for address information).

Categories of individuals covered by the system:

        Claimants - title II (RSI and DI); title XI (claimants subject to Professional Standards Review); title XVI (SSI); and title XVIII (HI).

Categories of records in the system:

        Information in this system consists of a record of the cases pending before the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

Authority for maintenance of the system:

        Sections 205, 1631(d), and 1872 of the Act, as amended.

Purpose(s):

        This system enables the ALJ to maintain control of his or her caseload.

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:

            1. To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that office made at the request of the subject of a record.

            2. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), a court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal when:

            - the Social Security Administration (SSA), any component thereof; or

            - any SSA employee in his/her official capacity; or

            - 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

            - the United States or any agency thereof where SSA determines that the litigation is likely to affect the operations of 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, the court or other 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. Wage and other information which are subject to the disclosure provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) (26 U.S.C. 6103) will not be disclosed under this routine use unless disclosure is expressly permitted by the IRC.

            3. Information may be disclosed to contractors and other Federal agencies, as necessary, for the purpose of assisting SSA in the efficient administration of its programs. We contemplate disclosing 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.

            4. Nontax return information which is not restricted from disclosure by Federal law may be disclosed to the General Services Administration (GSA) and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for the purpose of conducting records management studies with respect to their duties and responsibilities under 44 U.S.C. NARA Act of 1984.

            5. To student volunteers 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 in SSA records in order to perform their assigned Agency functions.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining and disposing of records in the system:

Storage:

        The records are maintained in paper form and on word processing equipment.

Retrievability:

        The records are indexed and retrieved by use of the SSN.

Safeguards:

        System security for automated records has been established in accordance with the Systems Security Handbook. Access to and use of the records are limited to those persons whose official duties require such access. All employees are instructed in SSA confidentiality rules as part of their initial orientation training. (See Appendix G to this publication for additional information relating to safeguards SSA employs to protect personal information.)

Retention and disposal:

        As each case is disposed of, the paper record remains in a central locator file and is shredded after 2 years. The record which is maintained on the word processing equipment is destroyed in the month following the month in which the case is completed.

System manager(s) and address:

        Associate Commissioner
        Office of Hearings and Appeals
        Social Security Administration
        3833 North Fairfax Drive
        Arlington, VA 22203

Notification procedure:

        An individual can determine if this system contains a record pertaining to him/her by writing to the hearing office (see Appendix F for address information). When requesting notification, an individual should provide his/her name, SSN and address. (Furnishing the SSN is voluntary, but it will make searching for an individual's record easier and avoid delay.)

        An individual requesting notification of records in person need not furnish any special documents of identity. Documents he/she would normally carry on his/her person would be sufficient (e.g., credit cards, driver's license, or voter registration card). An individual requesting notification via mail or telephone must furnish a minimum of his/her name, date of birth, and address in order to establish identity, plus any procedures are in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Regulations 45 CFR Part 5b.

Record access procedures:

        Same as notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record contents being sought. These access procedures are in accordance with HHS Regulations 45 CFR Part 5b.

Contesting record procedures:

        Same as notification procedures. Requesters 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 HHS Regulations 45 CFR Part 5b.

Record source categories:

        Information in this system is obtained from hearing office managers and from information on incoming cases.

Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:

        None.


Privacy Policy