Privacy Act of 1974; Re-Established Matching Program
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-108, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing noti...
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-108, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing notice of the re-establishment of a matching program between OPM and the Social Security Administration (SSA) under Computer Matching Agreement (CMA) No. 1071. The purpose of this matching program is to enable SSA to disclose Title II Social Security benefit information to OPM for use in determining eligibility for, and computing, Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) benefits payable to disability annuitants and survivor annuitants as required by law.
DATES:
Please submit comments on or before September 8, 2026. The matching program will begin on October 27, 2026, unless OPM receives comments from interested members of the public that require modification and republication of the notice. The matching program will continue for 18 months from the beginning date and may be extended for an additional 12 months if the respective agency Data Integrity Boards determine that the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(D) have been met.
ADDRESSES:
You may submit written comments using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov.
All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number for this
Federal Register
document. The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the internet at
www.regulations.gov
without change, which will include any personal identifiers submitted with the comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lisa Morgan, Retirement Services, by email at
Lisa.Morgan@opm.gov
or by mail at Lisa Morgan, Retirement Services, Room 6500, Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20415-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-503) amended the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) by establishing procedural safeguards governing agencies' use of computerized matching programs. Section 7201 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 further amended the Privacy Act by strengthening protections for individuals whose records are used in matching programs.
Notice is given of a re-established matching program between OPM and SSA. This matching program, Computer Matching Agreement (CMA) No. 1071, is being re-established to enable SSA to disclose Title II Social Security benefit information to OPM. OPM will compare this information with its retirement records to determine eligibility for, and compute, certain disability and survivor benefits payable under FERS, including statutory offsets required by law.
Participating Agencies
OPM and SSA.
Authority for Conducting the Matching Program
The legal authorities for conducting this matching program are 5 U.S.C. 8442(f), 8443(a), 8452(a)(2)(A), and 8461(h)(1). The legal authority for SSA's disclosures under this agreement is section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1306) and section 7213(a) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 405 note). SSA's disclosures are also in accordance with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3)).
Purpose(s)
The purpose of this matching program is to enable SSA to disclose Title II Social Security benefit information to OPM for comparison with OPM's records on disability annuitants, child survivor annuitants, and spousal survivor annuitants whose benefits are subject to statutory offset requirements. OPM will compare the benefit information provided by SSA with its retirement records to determine eligibility for, and compute, disability and survivor benefits payable under FERS in accordance with statutory offset requirements.
Categories of Individuals
Individuals whose information is involved in this matching program include: (1) Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) disability annuitants who may receive Social Security disability insurance benefits; (2) FERS child survivor annuitants who may receive Social Security child's insurance benefits; and (3) FERS surviving spouses who may be eligible for a FERS Supplementary Annuity based on their entitlement to, or eligibility for, certain Title II Social Security benefits. OPM submits identifying information for these individuals to SSA, and compares the returned Title II benefit information with its retirement records to determine eligibility for, and compute, benefits payable under FERS.
Categories of Records
OPM will provide SSA with an (1) individual's full name, (2) Social Security number (SSN), (3) date of birth, and the (4) State Verification and Exchange System (SVES) indicator required to retrieve Title II benefit information from SSA's Master Beneficiary Record (MBR). SSA will verify the SSN using its Enumeration System. When the SSN verifies, SSA will disclose Title II beneficiary status and associated benefit information from the MBR through SVES. When the SSN does not verify, SSA will return a code identifying the reason for the non-match.
System(s) of Records
OPM's system of records involved in this matching program is OPM/Central-1, Civil Service Retirement and Insurance Records, published at 73 FR
( printed page 50898)
15013 (March 20, 2008) and amended at 87 FR 5874 (February 2, 2022). SSA's systems of records involved in this matching program are the Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and SSN Applications (Enumeration System), System of Records No. 60-0058, last published at 90 FR 10025 (February 20, 2025), as updated at 90 FR 50879 (November 12, 2025); and the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR), System of Records No. 60-0090, last fully published at 71 FR 1826 (January 11, 2006), as updated at 72 FR 69723 (December 10, 2007), 78 FR 40542 (July 5, 2013), 83 FR 31250-31251 (July 3, 2018), 83 FR 54969 (November 1, 2018), 89 FR 825 (January 5, 2024), and 89 FR 14554 (February 27, 2024).
Signing Statement
The Director of OPM, Scott Kupor, reviewed and approved this document and has authorized the undersigned to electronically sign and submit this document to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.
5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(D)
www.regulations.gov