926f

(a) It is the public policy of the Government of Puerto Rico that every private enterprise that provides services to its constitutional branches, state or municipal agencies, dependencies, and instrumentalities and public corporations, as well as those that provide or shall render or provide services to public employees through payroll deduction contracts, those that make quotations or bids for auctions or contracting with the private sector, and those that benefit from donations or transfer of public funds for their operations, shall establish parameters for the protection of the confidentiality of the Social Security number of the persons from whom said information is obtained.(b) The private entities referred to in subsection (a) of this section, as an eligibility requirement for contracting with the public sector or allocating public funds, shall guarantee to any citizen or public employee that his/her Social Security number shall not be circulated, displayed or revealed on any identification card, document of general circulation, or article that is accessible or visible to any person within or outside the entity, which does not need to know this data, nor shall the same be

identification card, document of general circulation, or article that is accessible or visible to any person within or outside the entity, which does not need to know this data, nor shall the same be used as case, account, or claim number in public documents.(c) The entities referred to in subsection (a) of this section may continue to obtain the social security number of persons in order to expedite identity verification, to standardize the internal procedures of information exchange, and to such purposes allowed by law such as, without it being construed as a limitation, credit transactions and investigations, state and municipal tax transactions and investigations, human resources administration, compliance with child support laws, and compliance with judicial orders or criminal investigations, among others, but always guaranteeing that the services offered to persons who for any reason do not have a social security number or who object to the use thereof shall not be interrupted, unless a special law so expressly provides, or that any federal law or regulation imposes or allows its obligatory use.(d) The entities referred to in subsection (a) of this section that, at present,

unless a special law so expressly provides, or that any federal law or regulation imposes or allows its obligatory use.(d) The entities referred to in subsection (a) of this section that, at present, carry out contracting or render services, make bids, quotations or request fund appropriations or donations referred to in said subsection shall have a term of one (1) year after the approval of this act to certify that the public entity conducting the disbursement of funds is in compliance with its provisions, or render a progress report and work plan certifying that said entity shall comply with the same within the following fiscal year.(e) The entities referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall defray from their own finances any claim for damages by a citizen for their noncompliance with the provisions of this section. History —Sept. 1, 2006, No. 187, §§ 1—5.