How to Fix the SSDI Problem

President Obamas budget (p. 206) proposes "to restrict Genealogists support a balanced approach addressing problems associated with the Social Security Administrations Death Master File (DMF) and Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Genealogists and many privacy advocates propose a short delay for general access recognizing (A) fraud protection and forensic genealogy, heir research, and researching genetically inherited diseases be eligible for certification for early disclosure for legitimate purposes; and (B) the SSA and IRS be more pro-active combating fraud (eg, filtering tax returns for deceased children and multiple returns to the same address/account before issuing refunds).

immediate access to the DMF to those users who legitimately need the information for fraud prevention purposes and to delay the release of the DMF to all other users. This proposal would reduce opportunities for identity theft and restrict information sources used to file fraudulent tax returns.

Specifically: Congress should require the IRS to flag for further scrutiny income tax refunds for DMF matches as a filter against fraudulent tax refund claims: The IRS can already use Form SS5 (requiring parents' names and SSNs for minor child applications) to prevent identity thieves from fraudulently claiming someone else's deceased child as a dependent. Congress should direct the SSA to improve the way it collects and verifies DMF information to reduce the number of living people reported as deceased and simplify and publicize procedures for those affected to correct their greatly exaggerated death reports. Congress should fully consider all of the legitimate uses of the DMF and SSDI before limiting or delaying access to the data: including genealogists who work to identify military remains, who work with coroners offices and medical examiners, who are forensic genealogists, heir researchers, and those researching individual genetically-inherited diseases. The genealogy community understands the need to control identity theft and believes that these approaches would best serve the interests of fraud prevention, privacy and security.
Researchers Wring Hands as U.S. Clamps Down on Death Record Access, The New York Times, October 8, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/us/social-security-death-record-limits-hinder-researchers.html Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist, News from the SSDI front http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2013/01/30/news-from-the-ssdi-front/ Letter to Sen. Hatch from the genealogy, privacy and technology communities http://www.scribd.com/doc/131064623/Hatch-Genealogy-Letter-on-ECPA-SSDI Leslie Brinkley Lawson, Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy, Social Securitys Death Records http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/sfr_cafg_ss_2_2_12.pdf Records Preservation & Access Committee (of the genealogical community) Testimony on Tax Fraud by Identity Theft http://www.fgs.org/rpac/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/rpac-statement-for-record-senate-finance-final-20-mar.pdf Kenneth Ryesky, genealogist, Statement Tax Fraud and Identity Theft https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1NeqTrEJoniRnF5ZEQ5RVNxOEU/preview?pli=1

Please contact Bradley Jansen at bjansen@nancialprivacy.org with any questions.