H.R. 3779, a bill to restrict the inclusion of Social Security account numbers on documents sent by mail by the federal government, and for other purposes

H.R. 3779 would prohibit federal agencies from including Social Security account numbers on any documents sent by mail unless the agency determines that inclusion of the number is necessary. There are many federal laws and regulations that deal with the protection of sensitive information including the Federal Information Security Management Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, and a 2007 memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget on safeguarding against and responding to the breach of personally identifiable information. Given those laws and rules, CBO expects that most agencies are working to limit the amount of personally identifiable information collected and disseminated. Thus, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3779 would have no significant cost over the next five years.

Enacting the legislation could affect direct spending by agencies not funded through annual appropriations; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO estimates, however, that any net increase in spending by those agencies would be negligible. Enacting H.R. 3779 would not affect revenues.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3779 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.

H.R. 3779 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.