[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 2]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR401.25]

[Page 6-8]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
               CHAPTER III--SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 401_PRIVACY AND DISCLOSURE OF OFFICIAL RECORDS AND INFORMATION--Table 
of Contents
 
                            Subpart A_General
 
Sec. 401.25  Terms defined.

    Access means making a record available to a subject individual.
    Act means the Social Security Act.
    Agency means the Social Security Administration.
    Commissioner means the Commissioner of Social Security.
    Disclosure means making a record about an individual available to or 
releasing it to another party.
    FOIA means the Freedom of Information Act.

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    Individual when used in connection with the Privacy Act or for 
disclosure of nonprogram records, means a living person who is a citizen 
of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 
residence. It does not include persons such as sole proprietorships, 
partnerships, or corporations. A business firm which is identified by 
the name of one or more persons is not an individual. When used in 
connection with the rules governing program information, individual 
means a living natural person; this does not include corporations, 
partnerships, and unincorporated business or professional groups of two 
or more persons.
    Information means information about an individual, and includes, but 
is not limited to, vital statistics; race, sex, or other physical 
characteristics; earnings information; professional fees paid to an 
individual and other financial information; benefit data or other claims 
information; the social security number, employer identification number, 
or other individual identifier; address; phone number; medical 
information, including psychological or psychiatric information or lay 
information used in a medical determination; and information about 
marital and family relationships and other personal relationships.
    Maintain means to establish, collect, use, or disseminate when used 
in connection with the term record; and, to have control over or 
responsibility for a system of records when used in connection with the 
term system of records.
    Notification means communication to an individual whether he is a 
subject individual. (Subject individual is defined further on in this 
section.)
    Program Information means personal information and records collected 
and compiled by SSA in order to discharge its responsibilities under 
titles I, II, IV part A, X, XI, XIV, XVI and XVIII of the Act and parts 
B and C of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.
    Record means any item, collection, or grouping of information about 
an individual that is maintained by SSA including, but not limited to, 
information such as an individual's education, financial transactions, 
medical history, and criminal or employment history that contains the 
individual's name, or an identifying number, symbol, or any other means 
by which an individual can be identified. When used in this part, record 
means only a record which is in a system of records.
    Routine use means the disclosure of a record outside SSA, without 
the consent of the subject individual, for a purpose which is compatible 
with the purpose for which the record was collected. It includes 
disclosures required to be made by statutes other than the Freedom of 
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. It does not include disclosures which the 
Privacy Act otherwise permits without the consent of the subject 
individual and without regard to whether they are compatible with the 
purpose for which the information is collected, such as disclosures to 
the Bureau of the Census, the General Accounting Office, or to Congress.
    Social Security Administration (SSA) means (1) that Federal agency 
which has administrative responsibilities under titles, I, II, X, XI, 
XIV, XVI, and XVIII of the Act; and (2) units of State governments which 
make determinations under agreements made under sections 221 and 1633 of 
the Act.
    Social Security program means any program or provision of law which 
SSA is responsible for administering, including the Freedom of 
Information Act and Privacy Act. This includes our responsibilities 
under parts B and C of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.
    Statistical record means a record maintained for statistical 
research or reporting purposes only and not maintained to make 
determinations about a particular subject individual.
    Subject individual means the person to whom a record pertains.
    System of records means a group of records under our control from 
which information about an individual is retrieved by the name of the 
individual or by an identifying number, symbol, or other identifying 
particular. Single records or groups of records which are not retrieved 
by a personal identifier are not part of a system of records. Papers 
maintained by individual Agency employees which are prepared, 
maintained, or discarded at the discretion of the employee and which are 
not subject to the Federal Records Act, 44 U.S.C. 2901, are not part of 
a system of

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records; provided, that such personal papers are not used by the 
employee or the Agency to determine any rights, benefits, or privileges 
of individuals.
    We and our mean the Social Security Administration.