Information obtained by the RRB in the administration of its major benefit programs is subject to special disclosure restrictions contained in the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. These disclosure restrictions are in addition to those contained in the Privacy Act. They provide that unless the information is disclosed to another agency engaged in functions related to those administered by the RRB, it cannot be disclosed unless the RRB finds that disclosure would be clearly in the furtherance of interest of the subject or subject's estate.
Because benefit information is created by the RRB rather than obtained by it, these special disclosure restrictions do not apply to benefit information. Thus, as a general rule, the RRB is freer to disclose benefit information than the other two types of information.