‘‘(C) compel the attendance of witnesses or 
the production of documentary and other evi-
dence. 
‘‘(4) ACTIONS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF 
THE UNITED STATES.—In any case in which an ac-
tion is instituted by or on behalf of the Attorney 
General for violation of a practice that is prohibited 
under this section, no State may, during the pend-
ency of that action, institute an action under para-
graph (1) against any defendant named in the com-
plaint in that action for violation of that practice. 
‘‘(5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 
‘‘(A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 
paragraph (1) may be brought in the district 
court of the United States that meets applicable 
requirements relating to venue under section 
1391 of title 28, United States Code. 
‘‘(B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 
brought under paragraph (1), process may be 
served in any district in which the defendant— 
‘‘(i) is an inhabitant; or 
‘‘(ii) may be found. 
‘‘(f) SUNSET.—This section shall not apply on or 
after the date that is 6 years after the effective date of 
this section.’’. 
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(b) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Not later than the 
date that is 6 years and 6 months after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation 
with the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, shall 
issue a report evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency 
of section 1150A of the Social Security Act (as added by 
subsection (a)) and shall make recommendations to Con-
gress as to any legislative action determined to be nec-
essary or advisable with respect to such section, including 
a recommendation regarding whether to reauthorize such 
section. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to requests to provide a Social 
Security number occurring after the date that is 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 8. EXTENSION OF CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES FOR 
MISUSE OF A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. 
(a) APPLICATION OF CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES TO 
ELEMENTS OF CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS.—Section 1129(a) 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–8(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4); 
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(2) by redesignating the last sentence of para-
graph (1) as paragraph (2) and inserting such para-
graph after paragraph (1); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as so re-
designated) the following: 
‘‘(3) Any person (including an organization, agency, 
or other entity) who— 
‘‘(A) uses a Social Security account number 
that such person knows or should know has been as-
signed by the Commissioner of Social Security (in an 
exercise of authority under section 205(c)(2) to es-
tablish and maintain records) on the basis of false 
information furnished to the Commissioner by any 
person; 
‘‘(B) falsely represents a number to be the So-
cial Security account number assigned by the Com-
missioner of Social Security to any individual, when 
such person knows or should know that such number 
is not the Social Security account number assigned 
by the Commissioner to such individual; 
‘‘(C) knowingly alters a Social Security card 
issued by the Commissioner of Social Security, or 
possesses such a card with intent to alter it; 
‘‘(D) knowingly displays, sells, or purchases a 
card that is, or purports to be, a card issued by the 
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Commissioner of Social Security, or possesses such 
a card with intent to display, purchase, or sell it; 
‘‘(E) counterfeits a Social Security card, or pos-
sesses a counterfeit Social Security card with intent 
to display, sell, or purchase it; 
‘‘(F) discloses, uses, compels the disclosure of, 
or knowingly displays, sells, or purchases the Social 
Security account number of any person in violation 
of the laws of the United States; 
‘‘(G) with intent to deceive the Commissioner of 
Social Security as to such person’s true identity (or 
the true identity of any other person) furnishes or 
causes to be furnished false information to the Com-
missioner with respect to any information required 
by the Commissioner in connection with the estab-
lishment and maintenance of the records provided 
for in section 205(c)(2); 
‘‘(H) offers, for a fee, to acquire for any indi-
vidual, or to assist in acquiring for any individual, 
an additional Social Security account number or a 
number which purports to be a Social Security ac-
count number; or 
‘‘(I) being an officer or employee of a Federal, 
State, or local agency in possession of any individ-
ual’s Social Security account number, willfully acts 
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or fails to act so as to cause a violation by such 
agency 
of 
clause 
(vi)(II) 
or 
(x) 
of 
section 
205(c)(2)(C), 
shall be subject to, in addition to any other penalties that 
may be prescribed by law, a civil money penalty of not 
more than $5,000 for each violation. Such person shall 
also be subject to an assessment, in lieu of damages sus-
tained by the United States resulting from such violation, 
of not more than twice the amount of any benefits or pay-
ments paid as a result of such violation.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section 
shall apply with respect to violations of section 1129 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320–8), as 
amended by this section, committed after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(2) VIOLATIONS BY GOVERNMENT AGENTS IN 
POSSESSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.—Sec-
tion 1129(a)(3)(I) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1320a–8(a)(3)(I)), as added by subsection 
(a), shall apply with respect to violations of that sec-
tion occurring on or after the effective date de-
scribed in section 3(c). 
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SEC. 9. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR THE MISUSE OF A SO-
CIAL SECURITY NUMBER. 
(a) PROHIBITION OF WRONGFUL USE AS PERSONAL 
IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.—No person may obtain any 
individual’s Social Security number for purposes of locat-
ing or identifying an individual with the intent to phys-
ically injure, harm, or use the identity of the individual 
for any illegal purpose. 
(b) CRIMINAL SANCTIONS.—Section 208(a) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 408(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (8), by adding ‘‘or’’ after the 
semicolon; and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(9) except as provided in subsections (e) and 
(f) of section 1028B of title 18, United States Code, 
knowingly and willfully displays, sells, or purchases 
(as those terms are defined in section 1028B(a) of 
title 18, United States Code) any individual’s Social 
Security account number without having met the 
prerequisites for consent under section 1028B(d) of 
title 18, United States Code; or 
‘‘(10) obtains any individual’s Social Security 
number for the purpose of locating or identifying the 
individual with the intent to injure or to harm that 
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individual, or to use the identity of that individual 
for an illegal purpose;’’. 
SEC. 10. CIVIL ACTIONS AND CIVIL PENALTIES. 
(a) CIVIL ACTION IN STATE COURTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Any individual aggrieved by 
an act of any person in violation of this Act or any 
amendments made by this Act may, if otherwise per-
mitted by the laws or rules of the court of a State, 
bring in an appropriate court of that State— 
(A) an action to enjoin such violation; 
(B) an action to recover for actual mone-
tary loss from such a violation, or to receive up 
to $500 in damages for each such violation, 
whichever is greater; or 
(C) both such actions. 
It shall be an affirmative defense in any action 
brought under this paragraph that the defendant 
has established and implemented, with due care, rea-
sonable practices and procedures to effectively pre-
vent violations of the regulations prescribed under 
this Act. If the court finds that the defendant will-
fully or knowingly violated the regulations prescribed 
under this subsection, the court may, in its discre-
tion, increase the amount of the award to an amount 
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equal to not more than 3 times the amount available 
under subparagraph (B). 
(2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action may 
be commenced under this subsection not later than 
the earlier of— 
(A) 5 years after the date on which the al-
leged violation occurred; or 
(B) 3 years after the date on which the al-
leged violation was or should have been reason-
ably discovered by the aggrieved individual. 
(3) NONEXCLUSIVE REMEDY.—The remedy pro-
vided under this subsection shall be in addition to 
any other remedies available to the individual. 
(b) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who the Attor-
ney General determines has violated any section of 
this Act or of any amendments made by this Act 
shall be subject, in addition to any other penalties 
that may be prescribed by law— 
(A) to a civil penalty of not more than 
$5,000 for each such violation; and 
(B) to a civil penalty of not more than 
$50,000, if the violations have occurred with 
such frequency as to constitute a general busi-
ness practice. 
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(2) DETERMINATION
OF
VIOLATIONS.—Any 
willful violation committed contemporaneously with 
respect to the Social Security numbers of 2 or more 
individuals by means of mail, telecommunication, or 
otherwise, shall be treated as a separate violation 
with respect to each such individual. 
(3) ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES.—The provi-
sions of section 1128A of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1320a–7a), other than subsections (a), 
(b), (f), (h), (i), (j), (m), and (n) and the first sen-
tence of subsection (c) of such section, and the pro-
visions of subsections (d) and (e) of section 205 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 405) shall apply to a civil pen-
alty action under this subsection in the same man-
ner as such provisions apply to a penalty or pro-
ceeding under section 1128A(a) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 1320a–7a(a)), except that, for purposes of 
this paragraph, any reference in section 1128A of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7a) to the Secretary 
shall be deemed to be a reference to the Attorney 
General. 
SEC. 11. FEDERAL INJUNCTIVE AUTHORITY. 
In addition to any other enforcement authority con-
ferred under this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act, the Federal Government shall have injunctive author-
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ity with respect to any violation by a public entity of any 
provision of this Act or of any amendments made by this 
Act. 
Æ 
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