“The Social Security Administration apparently puts thousands of Americans at risk of identity theft each year by accidentally leaking their Social Security Numbers, names and dates of birth, according to the Scripps Howard New Service” - Jaikumar Vijayan, Computer World.
The way it happens is simple: Keying errors made by SSA employees when entering data into the agency's Death Master File. So, instead of entering 123-456-7890, 124-356-7890 is entered.
If no one has that number, no harm no foul as it won’t be issued a second time. However, if the (truly) late Mr. Jones number is punched in as (the very much alive) Mr. Smith’s…. well, Mr. Smith will have a hard time proving he’s alive, and his records (address, etc. become available to essentially anyone).
That is the database containing the records of 90 million deceased Americans.
“Thousands of Americans every year are incorrectly listed as “deceased” by the Social Security Administration, sending them into a bureaucratic nether world where they are denied credit, can’t be hired for new jobs, can’t borrow money and even get arrested. Thomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard investigated and found nearly 32,000 people who had been pushed into this bureaucratic limbo. Hargrove found other weird things with no explanations: Why does Social Security have more mistakes on the 15th of the month than on other days? Why don’t the death rolls include the 3,000 victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks? Why do some states have more mistakes than others?” – T. Hargrove, Scripps Howard
Since 1980, when the SSA first started making the file publicly available, more than 400,000 SSNs belonging to living Americans may have been inadvertently published in the Death Master File as a result of the errors, according to the report.
For its report, Scripps Howard reviewed three files from the Death Master File and discovered 31,931 living Americans listed erroneously in them. Dozens of those who were incorrectly listed were later contacted by the news service. None said they'd been informed of the breach by the SSA.
Worse:
“In most cases, the victims of the inadvertent leaks are not informed. Many discover the error only after they ran into problems such as having their bank accounts frozen, job interviews refused or having their credit, mortgage or student loan applications declined, Scripps Howard reported. The Death Master File is widely available and easily accessed, too easily, according to Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General. Scripps Howard quoted SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, who spoke to members of Congress about the issue last month. Astrue said that the SSA takes prompt action to correct any errors it discovers. Any breach involving the accidental leakage of SSNs is also promptly reported to the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team. Astrue said the SSA has so far found no instance of fraud or misuse as a result of the inadvertent exposure.” – Computer World
errors by state: The worst: Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Doc’s recommendation?
If you do turn up dead in the database, contact your local Social Security office, preferably in the flesh. It might also help to get a letter from your doctor attesting to your continued existence as one Arizona woman was forced to do.
However, if you’re actually dead, please ignore this.