[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: 20CFR401.40]

[Page 8-9]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
               CHAPTER III--SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 401_PRIVACY AND DISCLOSURE OF OFFICIAL RECORDS AND INFORMATION--Table 
of Contents
 
                        Subpart B_The Privacy Act
 
Sec. 401.40  How to get your own records.

    (a) Your right to notification and access. Subject to the provisions 
governing medical records in Sec. 401.55, you may ask for notification 
of or access to any record about yourself that is in an SSA system of 
records. If you are a minor, you may get information about yourself 
under the same rules as for an adult. Under the Privacy Act, if you are 
the parent or guardian of a minor, or the legal guardian of someone who 
has been declared legally incompetent, and you are acting on his or her 
behalf, you may ask for information about that individual. You may be 
accompanied by another individual of your choice when you request access 
to a record in person, provided that you affirmatively authorize the 
presence of such other individual during any discussion of a record to 
which you are requesting access.
    (b) Identifying the records. At the time of your request, you must 
specify which systems of records you wish to have searched and the 
records to which you wish to have access. You may also request copies of 
all or any such records. Also, we may ask you to provide sufficient 
particulars to enable us to distinguish between records on individuals 
with the same name. The necessary particulars are set forth in the 
notices of systems of records which are published in the Federal 
Register.
    (c) Requesting notification or access. To request notification of or 
access to a record, you may visit your local social security office or 
write to the manager of the SSA system of records. The

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name and address of the manager of the system is part of the notice of 
systems of records. Every local social security office keeps a copy of 
the Federal Register containing that notice. That office can also help 
you get access to your record. You do not need to use any special form 
to ask for a record about you in our files, but your request must give 
enough identifying information about the record you want to enable us to 
find your particular record. This identifying information should include 
the system of records in which the record is located and the name and 
social security number (or other identifier) under which the record is 
filed. We do not honor requests for all records, all information, or 
similar blanket requests. Before granting notification of or access to a 
record, we may, if you are making your request in person, require you to 
put your request in writing if you have not already done so.