We provide data to government agencies and private organizations for research projects and studies. Generally, disclosures to support external research activities are in the form of aggregations, statistics and or tabulations that do not identify any individual. We must review all statistical output prior to disclosure, to ensure the output meets our disclosure guidelines and will not lead to the identity of any individual or compromise the anonymity or privacy of an individual or family.

The Privacy Act allows us to disclose personally identifiable information subject to certain conditions and pursuant to a routine use. The Office of the General Counsel, via the Office of Data Exchange and Policy Publication (ODXIA), reviews requests to disclose SSA data for research purposes to determine if the disclosure is permissible.

In an effort to improve the quality of research designed to enhance the decision-making process in the Social Security program, we have routine uses that allow disclosure of information to entities and agencies such as Federal, State, or Congressional Support Agencies for certain research studies.

Many of our systems of records contain research routine uses. You can view a full listing of all of our systems of records and their routine uses at https://www.ssa.gov/privacy/sorn.html.