114 STAT. 2762A-116 PUBLIC LAW 106-553—APPENDIX B
"(e)(1) Any individual aggrieved by any act of any person in
violation of this section may bring a civil action in a United States
district court to recover—
"(A) such preliminary and equitable relief as the court
determines to be appropriate; and
"(B) the greater of—
"(i) actual damages;
" (ii) liquidated damages of $2,500; or
"(iii) in the case of a violation that was willful and
resulted in profit or monetary gain, liquidated damages
of $10,000.
"(2) In the case of a civil action brought under paragraph
(l)(B)(iii) in which the aggrieved individual has substantially prevailed, the court may assess against the respondent a reasonable
attorney's fee and other litigation costs and expenses (including
expert fees) reasonably incurred.
"(3) No action may be commenced under this subsection more
than 3 years after the date on which the violation was or should
reasonably have been discovered by the aggrieved individual.
"(4) The remedy provided under this subsection shall be in
addition to any other lawful remedy available to the individual.
"(f)(1) Any person who the Commissioner of Social Security
determines has violated this section shall be subject, in addition
to any other penalties that may be prescribed by law, to—
"(A) a civil money penalty of not more than $5,000 for
each such violation; and
"(B) a civil money penalty of not more than $50,000, if
violations have occurred with such frequency as to constitute
a general business practice.
"(2) Any willful violation committed contemporaneously with
respect to the social security numbers of 2 or more individuals
by means of mail, telecommunication, or otherwise shall be treated
as a separate violation with respect to each such individual.
"(3) The provisions of section 1128A (other than subsections
(a), (b), (f), (h), (i), (j), and (m), and the first sentence of subsection
(c)) and the provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of section 205
shall apply to civil money penalties under this subsection in the
same manner as such provisions apply to a penalty or proceeding
under section 1128A(a), except that, for purposes of this paragraph,
any reference in section 1128A to the Secretary shall be deemed
a reference to the Commissioner of Social Security.
"(g) In this section, the term 'display or sell to the general
public' means the intentional placing of an individual's social security number, or identifying portion thereof, in a viewable manner
on a web site that makes such information available to the general
public, or otherwise intentionally communicating an individual's
social security number, or an identifying portion thereof, to the
general public.
"(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
use of social security numbers by the Federal Government for
governmental purposes, including any of the following purposes:
"(1) National security.
"(2) Law enforcement.
"(3) Public health.
"(4) Federal or federally-funded research conducted for the
purposes of advancing knowledge.
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