| Access |
The release of a record to the individual to whom it pertains, or to the parent of
a minor or the legal guardian of an incompetent person when the parent or guardian
is acting on behalf of his/her ward.
NOTE: This does not include release to representative payees or authorized representatives.
See “Disclosure” below.
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| Accounting |
A record kept of any disclosure made without the subject individual"s consent, excluding
records of disclosure within SSA or under the FOIA.
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| Adverse action |
A claim filed by an individual which has an adverse effect on the claim of another
person or persons already on the rolls . Adverse actions are of two types, “adverse claim” and “adverse adjustment,” which are defined separately below. (See GN 01010.110.)
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| Adverse adjustment |
A type of “adverse action” (defined above) in which an award of benefits to a new claimant will reduce benefit
payments to another beneficiary already on the rolls.
EXAMPLE: One or more auxiliaries become entitled when there are already beneficiaries in
another household. The family maximum requires the benefits to the earlier beneficiaries
to be reduced.
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| Adverse claim |
A type of “adverse action” (defined above) in which an award of benefits to a new claimant, or reinstatement
of benefits to a beneficiary, results in the nonentitlement of a prior claimant.
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| Agency |
See “Federal agency” and “State agency.” |
| Applicant |
An individual who has applied (submitted a written request for benefits) on behalf
of himself/herself or on behalf of another person. (See “claimant” below for the relationship between “applicant” and “claimant.”)
The status of “applicant” continues until:
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There has been a final determination on the claim, or
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Another party has been determined to be the proper applicant, or
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It has been determined that the individual himself/herself should file (when the applicant
has filed on behalf of someone else).
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| Authorized representative |
An individual appointed in writing by another individual to represent the latter individual before SSA and who has been accepted by SSA. Only an individual,
not a firm or organization, may be an authorized representative. If an attorney is
a member of a law firm or Legal Aid Society, the individual attorney, and not the
law firm or Legal Aid Society, is the authorized representative.
NOTE: Authorized representatives are most often attorneys, but they may also be paralegals,
members of the clergy, physicians, or any other responsible person acceptable to SSA.
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| Beneficiary |
A person entitled to benefits or payments under any Social Security program. When
there is a representative payee, the person on whose behalf the benefits are payable
is the beneficiary.
A “primary beneficiary” is a NH entitled to benefits based on his/her own work record. An “auxiliary beneficiary” is someone entitled to benefits based on someone else"s work record, by virtue of
relationship to the NH.
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| Blue Book |
An informal name for the Social Security Administration Privacy Act Notices of Systems of Records (published with a blue cover), described below under its complete title.
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| Claimant |
A person on whose behalf a claim has been filed. Someone applying on his/her own behalf
is both “applicant” and “claimant.” A person applying on someone else"s behalf is the “applicant” and the person on whose behalf the claim was filed is the “claimant.”
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| Court of competent jurisdiction |
A court that has legal authority to hear a particular case. |
| Court order |
An order signed by the judge of a court. (An order signed by a clerk is not a court order.)
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| Designated representative |
A responsible individual designated in writing by an individual (or by a parent or
guardian on behalf of his/her ward) seeking access to his/her own medical records
(or the ward"s records).
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| Disclosure |
The release or showing of personal information about an individual to a third party,
other than to a parent or guardian exercising access rights on behalf of his/her ward.
(See “access” above.)
NOTE: The term does not include release of information to the individual to whom it pertains,
nor release to a minor"s parent or legal guardian if the parent or guardian is acting
on the individual"s behalf. These situations are considered “access” (see GN 03340.000).
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| Federal agency |
(For purposes of disclosure by SSA), any component of the Executive Branch of the
United States Federal Government, other than SSA or any component thereof, or any
other party acting as agent for a Federal agency.
NOTE: The term does not include any Federal court, the Congress, nor any component or agency
thereof (such as GAO). SSA defines itself as one “agency” for PA purposes.
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| Health-maintenance program |
Any noncommercial program (such as Medicare and Medicaid) designed to provide an individual
with health care (both prevention and treatment) or to subsidize the cost of such
care. A commercial insurance company may administer such a program for a State or local agency.
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| Income-maintenance program |
Any noncommercial program designed to: |
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provide an individual with basic necessities of life (such as food, clothing, shelter
and utilities), or
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supplement the individual"s income to permit the purchase of such necessities.
Income maintenance programs include subsidized housing, food stamps, TANF, general
assistance, title XX services, fuel subsidies, workers compensation, unemployment
compensation, government pension programs, and State supplementation. Loan programs
are not income maintenance programs.
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| Incompetent |
A person who has been declared incompetent by a court and for whom a legal guardian
has been appointed.
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| Individual |
A human being, living or deceased. |
| Maintain |
To keep, collect, use or disseminate a record or to have control over or responsibility
for a system of records.
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| Minor |
An individual considered to be a minor under applicable State law. |
| Notification |
Telling an individual whether or not he/she is the subject of a system of records.
Under the PA, an individual
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may request to be notified whether a particular system contains a record pertaining
to him/her, and
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must be given access to that record upon request (with certain exceptions).
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| Numident |
SSA"s computerized system of numerical identification for individuals, consisting
of each person"s name, together with other identifying information such as date and
place of birth, parents" names, etc., plus the SSN assigned to that person.
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| Public |
(For purposes of the FOIA), any individual or entity other than a Federal agency or
a Federal or State court.
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| Record |
Any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that SSA maintains
by the individual"s name, SSN, or other personal identifier.
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| Return information |
See “tax return information” below. |
| Routine use |
Use of a record, with respect to its disclosure, for a purpose which is compatible
with the purpose for which it was collected.
NOTE: “Routine use” is not disclosure; it is use for a particular purpose by the recipient. After an agency
discloses a record, then the recipient uses it.
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| Routine use disclosure |
Disclosure pursuant to paragraph (b)(3) of the PA, which requires that the disclosure
be:
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To a recipient named in the agency"s published notice of systems of records,
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For a purpose listed in the published notice,
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For a purpose which is compatible with the purposes for which the disclosing agency
initially collected or compiled the information.
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| Social Security Administration Privacy Act Notices of Systems of Records |
A book published periodically by SSA, as required by the PA, which lists all systems
of records maintained by SSA along with the system manager and routine uses established
for each system of records, and other information (informally referred to as the “Blue Book”).
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SSA
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The component responsible for administration of Title II, Title XVI, and certain other
parts of the Social Security Act; and
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DDSs, but only when making determinations of disability.
NOTE: “SSA” does not include:
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Officers or employees of parent agencies, such as State Departments of Human Resources
or other related components, or
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Agents of SSA (other than DDSs).
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State agency
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Any component of the Executive Branch of the government of any State or other territory
or possession of the United States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands, etc.), or
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Any agency of a subdivision of a State, such as a county, city, or township, or
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Any other party acting as agent for a State agency.
NOTE: The term does not include:
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A State legislature or any agency thereof,
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A State or local court, or
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A city or town council, etc., or
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A Native American tribe or agency thereof.
NOTE: Although Native American tribes are independent of any State government, the tribes
and their agencies may, like State agencies, invoke the FOIA in requesting personal
information from the Federal government. Therefore the same laws and procedures generally
apply regarding disclosure to the tribes as to disclosure to the States.
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| Statistical record |
A record which is: |
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In a system of records maintained only for statistical research and reporting purposes,
and
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Not used in whole or in part to make a determination about an identifiable individual
(except as provided by section 8 of title 13, U.S.C.)
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| Subject individual |
The individual to whom a record pertains. |
| System manager |
The SSA official responsible for confidentiality of or disclosure from a system of
records.
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| System of records |
A collection of information which: |
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Is maintained by a Federal agency (or its agent);
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Pertains to a number of individuals; and
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Is arranged so that information about a particular individual can be retrieved by
name, SSN, or other personal identifier.
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| Tax return information |
Information taken from a tax return filed with IRS.
NOTE: “Returns filed with IRS” include forms W-2, which employers submit to SSA, since SSA forwards the forms to
IRS after extracting the wage information.
EXAMPLE: Information taken from SSA"s posted earnings records, such as wages and self-employment
income, name and address of employer, dates of employment, and the fact that earnings
are or are not posted for a given period (but not information alleged on an SSA application
form or other paper that is not a tax return).
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| Wage information |
Includes: |
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Information about both wages and self- employment income as defined in title II of
the Social Security Act, and
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The name, address and employer identification number of an employer reporting wages
for Social Security purposes.
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