20 CFR 401.5 : Employees' Benefits (§ 1.1 To Parts 1011-1099) — (Part 400 To Part 499) — Social Security Administration (Part 400 To Part 499) — Privacy And Disclosure Of Official Records And Information (§ 401.5 To Appendix A To Part 401) — General (§ 401.5 To § 401.25) — Purpose of the regulations.

(a) General. The purpose of this part is to describe the Social Security Administration (SSA) policies and procedures for implementing the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a and section 1106 of the Social Security Act concerning disclosure of information about individuals, both with and without their consent. This part also complies with other applicable statutes.

(b) Privacy. This part implements the Privacy Act by establishing agency policies and procedures for the maintenance of records. This part also establishes agency policies and procedures under which you can ask us whether we maintain records about you or obtain access to your records. Additionally, this part establishes policies and procedures under which you may seek to have your record corrected or amended if you believe that your record is not accurate, timely, complete, or relevant.

(c) Disclosure. This part also sets out the general guidelines which we follow in deciding whether to make disclosures. However, we must examine the facts of each case separately to decide if we should disclose the information or keep it confidential.