Can I collect social security numbers from participants in North Carolina? What are the requirements?

Here is the answer to your query:

Collecting Social Security Numbers in North Carolina

According to NCGS 75-62, a business may not intentionally communicate or otherwise make available to the general public an individual’s social security number. Additionally, a business may not sell, lease, loan, trade, rent, or otherwise intentionally disclose an individual’s social security number to a third party without written consent to the disclosure from the individual, when the party making the disclosure knows or in the exercise of reasonable diligence would have reason to believe that the third party lacks a legitimate purpose for obtaining the individual’s social security number.

However, there are some instances where a social security number can be collected, such as when it is included in an application or in documents related to an enrollment process, or to establish, amend, or terminate an account, contract, or policy. A social security number that is permitted to be mailed may not be printed, in whole or in part, on a postcard or other mailer not requiring an envelope, or visible on the envelope or without the envelope having been opened. Additionally, a business may collect, use, or release a social security number to investigate or prevent fraud, conduct background checks, conduct social or scientific research, collect a debt, obtain a credit report from or furnish data to a consumer reporting agency pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, undertake a permissible purpose enumerated under Gramm Leach Bliley, or locate an individual who is missing, a lost relative, or due a benefit, such as a pension, insurance, or unclaimed property benefit ^[1.1].

Requirements for Collecting Social Security Numbers in North Carolina

If a business is covered by NCGS 75-62, it must make reasonable efforts to cooperate, through systems testing and other means, to ensure that the requirements of this Article are implemented ^[1.1].

Therefore, if you are collecting social security numbers in North Carolina, you must ensure that you are doing so in compliance with NCGS 75-62 and making reasonable efforts to implement the requirements of this Article.

Source(s):

• [1.1] Social security number protection.

Jurisdiction

North Carolina

• Privacy