(1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the
United States shall undertake a study of—
(A) the current usage, by agencies and in-
strumentalities in all branches of the Federal
Government and by agencies and instrumental-
ities of States and political subdivisions thereof,
of the social security account numbers of indi-
viduals, and derivatives of such numbers, for
purposes of identification of such individuals,
and
(B) the most effective means by which any
such usage extending beyond the original pur-
poses of the social security account number may
be minimized.
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller
General shall submit a report to the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Finance of the Senate setting
forth the results of the study conducted pursuant to
this subsection. Such report shall contain such rec-
ommendations, including proposals for legislative
changes, as the Comptroller General deems appro-
priate.
(d) PROHIBITION OF USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY AC-
COUNT NUMBER ON CHECKS ISSUED FOR PAYMENT BY
GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) (as
amended by subsection (a)) is amended further by
adding at the end the following new clause:
‘‘(xi) No agency or instrumentality of the Federal
Government or of a State or a political subdivision thereof
may include the social security account number of any in-
dividual, or any derivative of such number, on any check
issued for any payment by the Federal Government, any
State or political subdivision thereof, or any agency or in-
strumentality thereof.’’.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
by this subsection shall apply with respect to viola-
tions occurring after 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(e) 
INDEPENDENT
VERIFICATION
OF
BIRTH
RECORDS PROVIDED IN SUPPORT OF APPLICATIONS FOR
SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(c)(2)(B)(ii) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended by
adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘With
respect to an application for a social security ac-
count number for an individual other than for pur-
poses of enumeration at birth, the Commissioner
shall require independent verification of any birth
record provided by the applicant in support of the
application.’’.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to applica-
tions filed after 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(3) REPORT
ON
ENUMERATION
AT
ENTRY.—
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity and the Attorney General of the United States
shall jointly submit a report detailing the progress of
the Social Security Administration and the Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service in implementing a
process for enumeration at entry for aliens entering
the United States. Such report shall be submitted to
the Committee on Ways and Means and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Finance and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
(f) PROHIBITION OF APPEARANCE OF SOCIAL SECU-
RITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS ON DRIVER’S LICENSES OR
MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(c)(2)(C)(vi) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)(vi)) is amended—
(A) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ after ‘‘(vi)’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subclause:
‘‘(II) A State (or political subdivision thereof), in the
administration of any driver’s license or motor vehicle reg-
istration law within its jurisdiction, may not disclose the
social security account numbers issued by the Commis-
sioner of Social Security, or any derivative of such num-
bers, on any driver’s license or motor vehicle registration
or any other document issued by such State or political
subdivision to an individual for purposes of identification
of such individual.’’.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
by this subsection shall apply with respect to li-
censes, registrations, and other documents issued or
reissued after 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(g) PROHIBITION OF DISPLAY BY GOVERNMENTAL
AGENCIES OF PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) (as
amended by the preceding provisions of this section)
is amended further by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new clause:
‘‘(xii) No agency or instrumentality of the Federal
Government or of a State or political subdivison thereof
may display the social security account number, or any
deriviative of such number, on any card or tag provided
to the employee for purposes of identification. For pur-
poses of this clause, the term ‘display’ in connection with
a social security account number, or a derivative thereof,
means the intentional placing of such number or derivitive
in a viewable manner on a card or tag that is commonly
provided to the individual and is to be maintained by the
individual.’’.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made
by this subsection shall apply with respect to viola-
tions occurring after 1 year after the date of the en-
actment of this Act.
SEC. 102. REGULATION OF THE SALE AND PURCHASE OF
THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER IN
THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’
means the Federal Trade Commission.
(2) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any
individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, co-
operative, association, or any other entity.
(3) SALE.—The term ‘‘sell’’ in connection with
a social security account number means to obtain,
directly or indirectly, anything of value in exchange
for such number. Such term does not include the
submission of such number as part of the process
for applying for any type of Government benefits or
programs (such as grants or loans or welfare or
other public assistance programs). Such term also
does not include transfers of such number as part of
a data matching program under the Computer
Matching and Privacy Protection Act and the
amendments made thereby.
(4) PURCHASE.—The term ‘‘purchase’’ in con-
nection with a social security account number means
to provide, directly or indirectly, anything of value in
exchange for such number. Such term does not in-
clude the submission of such number as part of the
process for applying for any type of Government
benefit or programs (such as grant or loan applica-
tions or welfare or other public assistance pro-
grams). Such term also does not include transfers of
such number as part of a data matching program
under the Computer Matching and Privacy Protec-
tion Act and the amendments made thereby.
(5) SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER.—The
term ‘social security account number’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 208 of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 408).
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any
State of the United States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, and any territory or possession of the
United States.
(b) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any per-
son to sell or purchase a social security account number
in a manner that violates a regulation promulgated by the
Commission under subsection (c) of this section.
(c) REGULATIONS.—
(1) RESTRICTIONS
AUTHORIZED.—The Com-
mission, after consultation with the Commissioner of
Social Security, the Department of Justice, and
other agencies as the Commission deems appro-
priate, shall promulgate regulations restricting the
sale and purchase of social security account numbers
and any unfair or deceptive acts or practices in con-
nection with the sale and purchase of social security
account numbers.
(2) LIMITATIONS ON RESTRICTIONS.—In pro-
mulgating such regulations, the Commission shall
impose restrictions and conditions on the sale and
purchase of social security account numbers that are
no broader than necessary—
(A) to provide reasonable assurance that
social security account numbers will not be used
to commit or facilitate fraud, deception, or
crime; and
(B) to prevent an undue risk of bodily,
emotional, or financial harm to individuals.
For purposes of subparagraph (B), the Commission
shall consider the nature, likelihood, and severity of
the anticipated harm; the nature, likelihood, and ex-
tent of any benefits that could be realized from the
sale or purchase of the numbers; and any other rel-
evant factors.
(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The regulations promul-
gated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include excep-
tions which permit the sale and purchase of social
security account numbers—
(A) to the extent necessary for law enforce-
ment or national security purposes;
(B) to the extent necessary for public
health purposes;
(C) to the extent necessary in emergency
situations to protect the health or safety of 1
or more individuals;
(D) to the extent necessary for research
conducted for the purpose of advancing public
knowledge, on the condition that the researcher
provides adequate assurances that—
(i) the social security account num-
bers will not be used to harass, target, or
publicly reveal information concerning any
identifiable individuals;
(ii) information about identifiable in-
dividuals obtained from the research will
not to be used to make decisions that di-
rectly affect the rights, benefits, or privi-
leges of specific individuals; and
(iii) the researcher has in place appro-
priate safeguards to protect the privacy
and confidentiality of any information
about identifiable individuals;
(E) to the extent consistent with an indi-
vidual’s voluntary and affirmative written con-
sent to the sale or purchase of a social security
account number that has been assigned to that
individual; and
(F) under other appropriate circumstances
as the Commission may determine are con-
sistent with the findings in section 2 of this Act
and the principles in paragraph (2).
(d) RULEMAKING.—
(1) DEADLINE FOR ACTION.—Not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Commission shall promulgate the regulations under
subsection (c) of this section, in accordance with sec-
tion 553 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) EFFECTIVE DATES.—Subsection (b) and the
regulations promulgated under subsection (c) shall
take effect 30 days after the date on which the final
regulations issued under this section are published
in the Federal Register.
(e) ENFORCEMENT.—Any violation of a regulation
promulgated under subsection (c) of this section shall be
treated as a violation of a regulation under section
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts
or practices.
(f) ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICABILITY OF ACT.—
(1) THE COMMISSION.—The Commission shall
prevent any person from violating this section, and
any regulation promulgated thereunder, in the same
manner, by the same means, and with the same ju-
risdiction, powers, and duties as though all applica-
ble terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Com-
mission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor-
porated into and made a part of this section. Any
person who violates such regulation shall be subject
to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and
immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) as though all appli-
cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor-
porated into and made a part of this section. Noth-
ing contained in this section shall be construed to
limit the authority of the Commission under any
other provision of law.
(2) ACTIONS BY STATES.—
(A) CIVIL ACTIONS.—In any case in which
the attorney general of a State has reason to
believe that an interest of the residents of that
State has been or is threatened or adversely af-
fected by an act or practice that violates any
regulation of the Commission promulgated
under subsection (c), the State, as parens
patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of
the residents of the State in a district court of
the United States of appropriate jurisdiction,
to—
(i) enjoin that act or practice;
(ii) enforce compliance with the regu-
lation;
(iii) obtain damages, restitution, or
other compensation on behalf of residents
of the State; or
(iv) obtain such other legal and equi-
table relief as the district court may con-
sider to be appropriate.
Before filing an action under this subsection,
the attorney general of the State involved shall
provide to the Commission and to the Attorney
General a written notice of that action and a
copy of the complaint for that action. If the
State attorney general determines that it is not
feasible to provide the notice described in this
subparagraph before the filing of the action, the
State attorney general shall provide the written
notice and the copy of the complaint to the
Commission and to the Attorney General as
soon after the filing of the complaint as prac-
ticable.
(B) COMMISSION AND ATTORNEY GENERAL
AUTHORITY.—On receiving notice under sub-
paragraph (A), the Commission and the Attor-
ney General each shall have the right—
(i) to move to stay the action, pending
the final disposition of a pending Federal
matter as described in subparagraph (C);
(ii) to intervene in an action under
clause (i);
(iii) upon so intervening, to be heard
on all matters arising therein; and
(iv) to file petitions for appeal.
(C) PENDING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS.—If
the Attorney General has instituted a criminal
proceeding or the Federal Trade Commission
has instituted a civil action for a violation of
this Act or any regulations thereunder, no State
may, during the pendency of such proceeding or
action, bring an action under this section
against any defendant named in the criminal
proceeding or civil action for any violation of
this section that is alleged in that proceeding or
action.