Additional clarification regarding transmission of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

In response to recent questions, this message is to further clarify policy for ENs regarding the use of email and text messages for transmission of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including the transmission of Ticketholder resumes to employers.

ENs transmitting PII to Social Security and Ticket Program Manager (TPM):

ENs are prohibited from sending PII by email to Social Security and TPM, even if it is encrypted. The only exception is when ENs submit documentation to the Center for Suitability and Personnel Security (CSPS) as part of the Suitability process.

ENs transmitting PII to other (non SSA/TPM) email addresses:

If EN employees are using the EN’s own or any other non-SSA email system (e.g., Yahoo!, Gmail), they may send email messages transmitting PII only if the PII is entirely contained in an encrypted attachment. PII may NOT be in the body of the email itself or in an unencrypted attachment.

• Note: This includes Ticketholder resumes. ENs can submit Ticketholder resumes through an employer website if the employer website is secure and encrypted (https).

ENs text messaging with beneficiaries:

ENs are not permitted to send PII to beneficiaries/Ticketholders via text message. SSA does not govern what beneficiaries send to ENs via text message.

Please reference the following website resources for more information:

• EN training module: Properly Safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
  • https://yourtickettowork.ssa.gov/training-and-events/foundations-modules.html
• PII policies and information:
  • https://ssa.gov/program-operations/transmitting-pii.html
    • Definition of PII
    • Sending PII to Social Security or the Ticket Program Manager (TPM)
    • Best practices for faxing or mailing PII to TPM
    • Sending PII to other (non SSA/TPM) email addresses
    • ENs text messaging with beneficiaries
    • Consequences for PII Violations

Please contact ENservice@ssa.gov with any questions concerning the use of electronic systems for transmitting PII.