Alexis Agin Identity Theft Protection Act of 2013 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to revise the treatment of death information furnished to or maintained by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Authorizes the Commissioner of Social Security to use or provide such information to federal and state agencies for statistical and research activities or to any federal agency for law enforcement or tax administration purposes.
Authorizes disclosure of such information by: (1) federal and state agencies to contractors to assist with similar activities, (2) the Commissioner to entities concerning certain individuals who died more than three years earlier as well as to entities certified by the Commissioner, and (3) the Commissioner to the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to assist in the identification of remains.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2720 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2720
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for the
treatment of death information furnished to or maintained by the Social
Security Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2013
Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas (for himself and Mr. Becerra) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for the
treatment of death information furnished to or maintained by the Social
Security Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Alexis Agin Identity Theft
Protection Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON DISTRIBUTION OF DEATH INFORMATION FURNISHED TO OR
MAINTAINED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
(a) In General.--Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, and to ensure
completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of,'' after
``transmitting'';
(2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
``(3) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, to the extent
feasible, provide for the use of information regarding deceased
individuals furnished to or maintained by the Commissioner, subject to
such safeguards as the Commissioner of Social Security determines are
necessary or appropriate to protect the information from unauthorized
use or disclosure, to any Federal or State agency providing or
administering Federally funded benefits to individuals, other than
benefits under this Act, through a cooperative arrangement with such
agency designed to ensure proper payment of those benefits with respect
to such individuals if--
``(A) under such arrangement the agency provides
reimbursement to the Commissioner of Social Security for the
reasonable costs of carrying out such arrangement, including
the reasonable costs associated with the collection and
maintenance of information regarding deceased individuals
furnished to the Commissioner pursuant to paragraph (1); and
``(B) such arrangement does not conflict with the duties of
the Commissioner of Social Security under paragraph (1).'';
(3) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``or in benefit and
pension plans for employees of the States or local
governments'' after ``by the States'';
(4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following:
``(5)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security may use or provide for
the use of information regarding deceased individuals furnished to or
maintained by the Commissioner, subject to such safeguards as the
Commissioner of Social Security determines are necessary or appropriate
to protect the information from unauthorized use or disclosure,
provided the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3)
are met and such information is provided--
``(i) to any Federal agency through a cooperative agreement
with such agency for the purpose of law enforcement or tax
administration; or
``(ii) for statistical and research activities conducted by
Federal and State agencies.
``(B) A Federal or State agency may disclose death information
obtained from the Commissioner to a contractor for the purposes of
assisting with such law enforcement, tax administration, or statistical
and research activities, provided that the agency ensures, at a
minimum, that the contractor fulfills the requirements of clauses (ii)
and (iv) of paragraph (7)(E).'';
(5) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the following:
``(7)(A) For purposes of this paragraph, death information shall
consist of information regarding deceased individuals maintained by the
Commissioner of Social Security, except for information furnished to or
maintained by the Commissioner pursuant to paragraphs (1) or (2), and
the death information to be provided shall consist only of the name,
social security number, date of birth, and date of death of a deceased
individual.''
``(B) The Commissioner may disclose death information under this
paragraph to the Secretary of Defense provided that--
``(i) the Secretary uses the information provided solely
for the purpose of assisting in the identification of
unidentified remains, and
``(ii) the Secretary enforces requirements similar to those
in clauses (i), (ii), (iv), (v), (vi), and (vii) with respect
to any contractor the Secretary hires to assist in such
identifications.
``(C) The Commissioner of Social Security may disclose death
information, except for information furnished to or maintained by the
Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to paragraphs (1) or (2),
provided the requirements of this paragraph and the requirements of
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (3) are met.
``(D) The Commissioner may disclose--
``(i) to any entity, information maintained by the
Commissioner concerning individuals whose date of death
occurred at least 3 calendar years prior to the year that the
entity requests such information pursuant to a written
agreement; and
``(ii) to any entity `certified' by the Commissioner under
subparagraph (E), information maintained by the Commissioner
concerning individuals whose date of death does not satisfy the
requirements of clause (i), pursuant to a written agreement
between the Commissioner and the entity.
``(E) For purposes of this paragraph an entity is `certified' only
if the Commissioner--
``(i) establishes procedures to certify and decertify
entities eligible to obtain such information;
``(ii) includes in the agreement with such an entity
provisions to require such entity to safeguard the information
provided, assure that the information is used only for the
purpose which was the basis for the certification, assure that
the information is not disclosed by the entity to any other
entity, and include contractual penalties, including monetary
penalties and loss of certification, for the violation of any
requirements imposed by the Commissioner as a condition of
receiving the information;
``(iii) requires that the entity demonstrate that--
``(I) it has a legitimate business need for the
information, which shall include a requirement that the
information regarding a deceased individual will aid in
preventing financial harm to the entity or to a
customer or client of the entity or will aid in
permitting the entity to fulfill an obligation to a
beneficiary of an individual that is contingent upon
the death of such individual; or
``(II) it has a legitimate interest in preventing
fraud or unauthorized financial transactions;
``(iv) requires that the entity demonstrate that it has
infrastructure and procedures in place to prevent wrongful
access to or the disclosure of information provided by the
Commissioner;
``(v) determines that the entity has adequate experience
and expertise in maintaining the confidentiality and security
of information;
``(vi) includes such other requirements and restrictions as
the Commissioner deems appropriate to assure the
confidentiality of the information; and
``(vii) requires that the entity permit periodic and
unscheduled audits of the entity to assure compliance with the
requirements established by the Commissioner.
``(F) The Commissioner shall establish application and other fees
to be paid by entities seeking to be certified or to maintain
certification under this paragraph so that the Commissioner is fully
reimbursed for all costs associated with development of the
certification process, evaluating applications, auditing compliance
with the requirements established by the Commissioner, inspecting
records and assuring compliance with contract requirements, and any
other costs associated with assuring continuing eligibility for
certification under this paragraph.
``(G) For purposes of this paragraph, the terms `entity' or
`entities' includes `individual' and `individuals' respectively.
``(H) The Commissioner may delegate any of the activities under
this paragraph to another agency and may perform any activity through a
contractor, provided that the delegation or contract requires such
agency or contractor to comply with all requirements of this section
and of the implementing policies developed by the Commissioner.'';
(6) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(10) Information related to a deceased individual received by the
Commissioner of Social Security other than as described in paragraph
(1) shall be treated for purposes of paragraph (6) in the same manner
as information received as described in paragraph (1).''.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act and each year thereafter through 2019, the Commissioner of
Social Security shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate
and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a
report describing the entities certified by the Commissioner under
section 205(r)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(7))
during the preceding year and their compliance with the requirements of
subparagraph (E) of such section.
(c) Effective Dates.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
amendments made by this section take effect on the date that is
60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Exception.--The amendment made by subsection (a)(6)
shall take effect on January 1, 2014.
(d) Sunset.--Subparagraphs (C) through (H) of section 205(r)(7) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(7)) (as amended by subsection
(a)) shall cease to be effective on January 1, 2019, except that--
(1) clauses (ii) and (iv) of subparagraph (E) of such
section shall continue to apply for purposes of section
205(r)(5)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(5)(B)) (as amended
by subsection (a)).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H4607)
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Social Security.
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