One way that the federal government ensures that Social Security benefits are not being abused or misused has been to establish certain requirements that must be met in order for someone to receive Social Security benefits. These requirements take a person's age and the number of years a person contributed to the Social Security system while working to determine a monthly benefit amount. These criteria that have been established by the Social Security Administration are considered ______. a. regulations b. oversight measures c. unfair restrictions d. qualification criteria