Social Security Reverses Course on Identity Requirement

[mystery-ak]

Social Security Reverses Course on Identity Requirement
The measure was opposed by critics who said it poses challenges to older Americans and people living far from an office.

By Naveen Athrappully
3/27/2025
Updated:
3/27/2025

The Social Security Administration (SSA) said Wednesday that it will not implement a policy that would have required many Americans to visit offices to verify their identities.
Last week, the SSA announced stronger identity proofing measures in a bid to combat fraud, with the policies set to come into effect beginning March 31. One of the policies required beneficiaries who do not have an online “My Social Security account” to visit local Social Security offices for identity verification. However, the agency has now decided not to implement this measure for certain applicants.
Individuals who wish to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or Medicare and cannot use a My Social Security account “can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office,” the SSA said in a March 26 statement.

The updated policy is effective beginning April 14, two weeks after the previously scheduled date.

more
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/social-security-reverses-course-on-identity-requirement-5832423

[DefiantMassRINO]

Compare the Social Security rolls with the list of IRS individal tax filings.

If they haven't filed their taxes for a few years, they may be dead.

Eventually, Social Security needs to migrate to a more secure identifical credential that is partially based upon biometrics - facial recognition, fingerprint - and mutli-factor authentication.

Many native-born Americans get their Social Security Number assigned when their parents start claiming them as a dependent on their individual income taxes.  This was started late 1970's / early 1980's because both divorced parents were claiming children as dependents (double dipping).

[Kamaji]

I'm curious about how having an online “My Social Security account” prevents identity theft.  In fact, it's likely to increase the risks of identity theft unless the account was created because the account user presented him/her self at a social security office to prove his/her identity in order to open the account in the first place.

[berdie]

Compare the Social Security rolls with the list of IRS individal tax filings.

If they haven't filed their taxes for a few years, they may be dead.

Eventually, Social Security needs to migrate to a more secure identifical credential that is partially based upon biometrics - facial recognition, fingerprint - and mutli-factor authentication.

Many native-born Americans get their Social Security Number assigned when their parents start claiming them as a dependent on their individual income taxes.  This was started late 1970's / early 1980's because both divorced parents were claiming children as dependents (double dipping).

I was unaware that IRS and SS could share information.  But they should be able to.
I didn't a SS card intil I was in my teens. Now I think babies are assigned SS numbers when they are born.

[berdie]

I'm curious about how having an online “My Social Security account” prevents identity theft.  In fact, it's likely to increase the risks of identity theft unless the account was created because the account user presented him/her self at a social security office to prove his/her identity in order to open the account in the first place.

That was my first thought as well. As great as the internet is...it has a downside.

[Fishrrman]

Kamji:
"I'm curious about how having an online “My Social Security account” prevents identity theft."

I think that having such an account DOES help protect against ID theft.

To log into SS, one needs first to create an account with either id.me or login.gov, for purposes of verification.

I've created accounts at both of the above.
Login.gov was easier than id.me (I'll explain later).

When you go the SS site to view your account, you are directed to (either) login.gov or id.me to establish your login credentials.

There's a "two-factor" authentication process:
1. enter username (or email)
2. enter password
3. wait for a text message to your cell phone (can also be sent to home phone)
4. enter that one-time access code to complete verification.

Even if an id thief has your username and password, he can get no further without the access code that has been sent to YOUR phone.

Getting into the IRS.gov site now is even more involved than it used to be.
I found this out, having created an account some time back, then discovering it would no longer "get me in".
You now MUST use id.me to access your account at IRS (at least for now).

BUT... creating an account with id.me is more involved than with login.gov.
You need a smartphone (I don't have one), and you must go online with it (AND with the computer), and transmit to them a photo of a driver's license (some other documents accepted, must have photo). Then (again using the smartphone), you are sent a special app that takes a "live" picture of you and compares that vis-a-vis the document (with pic) that you sent them.

I tried getting this set up with a friend earlier this week, and we got to just about the end and... it failed (for him). Will have to try again next time I get over there.

As I mentioned, I don't own a smartphone, so the process I just described... wasn't going to work for me.

Instead, I had to use the computer to upload photos of my license, and then (using my MacBook Pro), go to a face-to-face live online meeting with an id.me employee, who (I presume) then compared the face she saw in the live messaging app (me) to the photo on the driver's license I had previously sent.

Then I was given some codes (or something) to complete the application for verification.

Once done, NOW I can log into the IRS.gov site.
Again, I believe that two-factor authentication is used, before it "lets you in" you have to enter a one-time code sent to you by phone.

It took me more than one try over the course of several days to get all this working.

The reasoning behind having accounts with both Social Security and the IRS is to have my Social Security number associated with "an established account". That just might make it more difficult for some illegal to steal my SS# for whatever reason...