Effective 09/08/94 (59 FR 46439)

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION NOTICE OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS REQUIRED BY THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
60-0184

System name: Hearing Office Master Docket of Claimant Cases, SSA/OHA.

Security classification:

None.

System location:

All Hearing Offices (See Appendix G for address information)

Categories of individuals covered by the system:

Claimants - title II (Retirement, Survivors and Disability); title XI (claimants subject to Professional Standards Review); title XVI (Supplemental Security Income); and title XVIII (Health Insurance).

Categories of records in the system:

A list of all cases pending in the hearing office.

Authority for maintenance of the system:

Sections 205, 1631(d)(1) and 1872 of the Act.

Purpose:

The purpose of this system is to enable the hearing office to ascertain the location of cases within SSA's OH and maintain control of the pending case load.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:

Disclosure may be made for routine use 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 DOJ, a court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal when:

    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 IRC (26 U.S.C. 6103) will not be disclosed under this routine use unless disclosure is expressly permitted by the IRC.

  3. Nontax return information which is not restricted from disclosure by Federal law may be disclosed to GSA and NARA for the purpose of conducting records management studies with respect to their duties and responsibilities under 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906, as amended by NARA Act of 1984.

  4. 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:

Records are retrieved by SSN.

Safeguards:

Access to, and use of the records is limited to those employees whose official duties require such access and use. System security for automated records has been established in accordance with the Systems Security Handbook. 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 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 about him/her by writing to the hearing office (see Appendix G 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 additional information specified in this section. These procedures are in accordance with HHS Regulations 45 CFR Part 5b.

Record access procedures:

Same as notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record contents they are accessing. These 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 untimely, incomplete, inaccurate or irrelevant. These procedures are in accordance with HHS Regulations 45 CFR Part 5b.

Record source categories:

Records in the system are derived from hearing office personnel and from information on incoming cases.

Systems exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:

None.

Privacy Policy