3.4 Privacy Act

Overview

Section 7 of the Privacy Act requires federal, state, or local government agencies to provide a disclosure statement when requesting a social security number from an individual.  Section 7 requires a three-pronged approach to determine the appropriateness for an appropriate disclosure:

1) Is the disclosure mandatory or voluntary? 

2) What statutory or other authority requires disclosure? 

3) What is the purpose or use of the disclosure?

Policy

When requesting an individual provide his/her social security number, the Wyoming CSE Program provides the required Privacy Act disclosure statement on all forms or as an attachment to the form.  The disclosure statement is also used during any phone conversations or office visits.

The following is the disclosure statement used by the Wyoming CSE Program on documents:

Disclosure of your Social Security Number on the attached form is mandatory. The disclosure is required by section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(c)] or section 466(a)(13)(B) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 666(a)(13)(B)]. It will be used by the Wyoming Child Support Enforcement Program to identify you for purposes of establishing paternity and establishing, modifying, and enforcing support obligations. For the same reasons, you might be asked for your Social Security Number again when you contact a state or local child support office.

When talking to a customer on the phone and requesting that person’s social security number, the following should be used to request such information.

If the request is for a different reason (e.g. other than to identify a customer in POSSE), then substitute that reason in the above statement.

Cross Reference

None