I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3046 
To amend the Social Security Act to enhance Social Security account number 
privacy protections, to prevent fraudulent misuse of the Social Security 
account number, and to otherwise enhance protection against identity 
theft, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 16, 2007 
Mr. MCNULTY (for himself, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 
MCCRERY, Mr. STARK, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LEWIS 
of Kentucky, Mr. WOLF, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. POMEROY, 
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 
PASCRELL, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Ms. 
MATSUI, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. FARR, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. FILNER, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Social Security Act to enhance Social Security 
account number privacy protections, to prevent fraudu-
lent misuse of the Social Security account number, and 
to otherwise enhance protection against identity theft, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Pre-
vention Act of 2007’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is 
as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Restrictions on the sale or display to the general public of social secu-
rity account numbers by governmental entities. 
Sec. 3. Prohibition of display of social security account numbers on checks 
issued for payment by governmental entities. 
Sec. 4. Prohibition of the display of social security account numbers on certain 
government identification cards or tags. 
Sec. 5. Prohibition of inmate access to social security account numbers. 
Sec. 6. Measures to preclude unauthorized disclosure by governmental entities 
of social security account numbers and protect the confiden-
tiality of such numbers. 
Sec. 7. Uniform standards for truncation of the social security account number. 
Sec. 8. Prohibition of the sale, purchase, and display to the general public of 
the social security account number in the private sector. 
Sec. 9. New criminal penalties for misuse of social security account numbers. 
Sec. 10. Extension of civil monetary penalty authority. 
Sec. 11. Criminal penalties for employees of the Social Security Administration 
who knowingly and fraudulently issue social security cards or 
social security account numbers. 
Sec. 12. Enhanced penalties in cases of terrorism, drug trafficking, crimes of 
violence, or prior offenses. 
Sec. 13. Regulatory and enforcement authority with respect to misuse of the so-
cial security account number. 
Sec. 14. Study on feasibility of banning social security account number as an 
authenticator. 
SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON THE SALE OR DISPLAY TO THE 
GENERAL PUBLIC OF SOCIAL SECURITY AC-
COUNT NUMBERS BY GOVERNMENTAL ENTI-
TIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new clause: 
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‘‘(x)(I) A governmental entity (as defined in sub-
clause (X)) may not sell or display to the general public 
any social security account number if such number has 
been disclosed to such governmental entity pursuant to the 
assertion by such governmental entity to any person that 
disclosure of such number is a statutory or regulatory re-
quirement. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, such 
number may be sold or displayed to the general public in 
accordance with the exceptions specified in subclauses (II), 
(III), (IV), (V), (VI), (VII), and (VIII) (and for no other 
purpose). 
‘‘(II) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a social security 
account number may be sold by a governmental entity to 
the extent that such sale is specifically authorized by this 
Act. 
‘‘(III) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a social secu-
rity account number may be sold by a governmental entity 
to the extent that is necessary or appropriate for law en-
forcement or national security purposes, as determined 
under regulations which shall be issued as provided in sec-
tion 1129C. 
‘‘(IV) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a social security 
account number may be sold by a governmental entity to 
the extent that such sale is required to comply with a tax 
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law of the United States or of any State (or political sub-
division thereof). 
‘‘(V) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a social security 
account number may be sold by a State department of 
motor vehicles as authorized under subsection (b) of sec-
tion 2721 of title 18, United States Code, if such number 
is to be used pursuant to such sale solely for purposes 
permitted under paragraph (1), (6), or (9) of such sub-
section. 
‘‘(VI) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a social security 
account number may be sold or otherwise made available 
by a governmental entity to a consumer reporting agency 
(as defined in section 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f))) for use or disclosure solely for 
permissible purposes described in section 604(a) of such 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(a)). 
‘‘(VII) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a social secu-
rity account number may be sold by a governmental entity 
to the extent necessary for research (other than market 
research) conducted by any governmental entity for the 
purpose of advancing the public good, on the condition 
that the researcher provides adequate assurances that the 
social security account numbers will not be used to harass, 
target, or publicly reveal information concerning any iden-
tifiable individuals, that information about identifiable in-
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dividuals obtained from the research will not be used to 
make decisions that directly affect the rights, benefits, or 
privileges of specific individuals, and that the researcher 
has in place appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy 
and confidentiality of any information about identifiable 
individuals, including procedures to ensure that the social 
security account numbers will be encrypted or otherwise 
appropriately secured from unauthorized disclosure. In the 
case of medical research, the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity shall maintain ongoing consultation with the Office 
for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human 
Services to ensure that the sale or purchase of social secu-
rity account numbers which constitute personally identifi-
able medical information is permitted only in compliance 
with existing Federal rules and regulations prescribed by 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to 
section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac-
countability Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 2033). 
‘‘(VIII) Notwithstanding subclause (I), a social secu-
rity account number may be sold or displayed to the gen-
eral public by a governmental entity under such other cir-
cumstances as may be specified in regulations issued as 
provided in section 1129C. 
‘‘(IX) This clause does not apply with respect to a 
social security account number of a deceased individual. 
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‘‘(X) For purposes of this clause, the term ‘govern-
mental entity’ means an executive, legislative, or judicial 
agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government or 
of a State or political subdivision thereof, a Federally rec-
ognized Indian tribe, or a trustee appointed in a case 
under title 11, United States Code. Such term includes 
a person acting as an agent of such an agency or instru-
mentality, Indian tribe, or trustee. For purposes of this 
subclause, the term ‘State’ has the meaning provided in 
subparagraph (D)(iii)(II). 
‘‘(XI) For purposes of this clause, the term ‘sell’ 
means, in connection with a social security account, to ob-
tain, directly or indirectly, anything of value in exchange 
for such number. Such term does not include the submis-
sion of such number as part of the process for applying 
for any type of Government benefits or programs (such 
as grants, loans, or welfare or other public assistance pro-
grams) or as part of the administration of, or provision 
of benefits under, an employee benefit plan. 
‘‘(XII) For purposes of this clause, the term ‘display 
to the general public’ shall have the meaning provided 
such term in section 208A(a)(3)(A). In any case in which 
a governmental entity requires transmittal to such govern-
mental entity of an individual’s social security account 
number by means of the Internet without ensuring that 
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such number is encrypted or otherwise appropriately se-
cured from disclosure, any such transmittal of such num-
ber as so required shall be treated, for purposes of this 
clause, as a ‘display to the general public’ of such number 
by such governmental entity for purposes of this clause. 
‘‘(XIII) For purposes of this clause, the term ‘social 
security account number’ includes any derivative of such 
number. 
‘‘(XIV) Nothing in the preceding subclauses of this 
clause shall be construed as superseding, altering, or af-
fecting any statute, regulation, order, or interpretation in 
effect under any other Federal or State law, except to the 
extent that such statute, regulation, order, or interpreta-
tion is inconsistent with such subclauses, and then only 
to the extent of the inconsistency. For purposes of this 
subclause, a statue, regulation, order, or interpretation is 
not inconsistent with the preceding subclauses of this 
clause if the protection such statute, regulation, order, or 
interpretation affords any person is greater than the pro-
tection provided under such subclauses.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE AND RELATED RULES.—Ini-
tial final regulations prescribed to carry out the provisions 
of section 205(c)(2)(C)(x) of the Social Security Act 
(added by this section) shall be issued not later than the 
last date of the 18th calendar month following the date 
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of the enactment of this Act. Such provisions shall take 
effect, with respect to matters governed by such regula-
tions issued by the Commissioner of Social Security or any 
other agency or instrumentality of the United States, 1 
year after the date of the issuance of such regulations by 
the Commissioner or such other agency or instrumentality, 
respectively. Such provisions shall apply in the case of dis-
plays to the general public, as defined in section 
208A(a)(3) of such Act (added by section 8 of this Act), 
to such displays originally occurring after such 1-year pe-
riod. Such provisions shall not apply with respect to any 
display of a record (containing a social security account 
number (or any derivative thereof)) generated prior to the 
close of such 1-year period. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF DISPLAY OF SOCIAL SECURITY AC-
COUNT NUMBERS ON CHECKS ISSUED FOR 
PAYMENT BY GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205(c)(2)(C) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) (as amended by 
section 2 of this Act) is amended further by adding at 
the end the following new clause: 
‘‘(xi) No governmental entity (as defined in clause 
(x)(X)) may include the social security account number 
of any individual (or any derivative of such number) on 
any check issued for any payment by such governmental 
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entity or on any document attached to or accompanying 
such a check.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply with respect to checks (and docu-
ments attached to or accompanying such checks) issued 
after 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF THE DISPLAY OF SOCIAL SECU-
RITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS ON CERTAIN GOV-
ERNMENT IDENTIFICATION CARDS OR TAGS. 
(a) 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 Act) is amended further by 
adding at the end the following new clause: 
‘‘(xii) No governmental entity (as defined in clause 
(x)(X)), and no other person offering benefits in connec-
tion with an employee benefit plan maintained by such 
governmental entity, may display a social security account 
number (or any derivative thereof) on any card or tag that 
is commonly provided— 
‘‘(I) to employees of such governmental entity, 
‘‘(II) in the case of a governmental entity which 
is an educational institution, to its students, or 
‘‘(III) in the case of a governmental entity 
which is a medical institution, to its patients, 
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(or to their family members) for purposes of identification 
or include on such card or tag a magnetic strip, bar code, 
or other means of communication which conveys such 
number. The requirements of this clause shall also apply 
to the Medicare card issued by the Department of Health 
and Human Services.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply with respect to cards or tags issued 
after 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
except that the last sentence of section 205(c)(2)(C)(xii) 
(as added by this section) shall take effect 2 and one-half 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF INMATE ACCESS TO SOCIAL SECU-
RITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS. 
(a) 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 Act) is amended further by 
adding at the end the following new clause: 
‘‘(xiii) No governmental entity (as defined in clause 
(x)(X)) may employ, or enter into a contract for the use 
or employment of, prisoners in any capacity that would 
allow such prisoners access to the social security account 
numbers of other individuals (or any derivatives of such 
numbers). For purposes of this clause, the term ‘prisoner’ 
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means an individual confined in a jail, prison, or other 
penal institution or correctional facility.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendment made by this section shall 
apply with respect to employment of prisoners, or 
entry into contract for the use or employment of 
prisoners, on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
(2) 
TREATMENT
OF
CURRENT
ARRANGE-
MENTS.—In the case of— 
(A) prisoners employed as described in 
clause (xiii) of section 205(c)(2)(C) of the So-
cial Security Act (as added by this section) on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
(B) contracts described in such clause in 
effect on such date, 
the amendment made by this section shall take ef-
fect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
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