SSA FOIA Restriction on SS-5 Requests
- Details
- Category: General
- Updated: 29 November 2011
- Posted: 29 November 2011
Megan Smolenyak reports on her blog about an unannounced restriction that the Social Security Administration has implemented with relation to requests for SS-5 forms.
According to a letter received from them, under the current policy, they don't release the parents' names unless they are proved to be deceased, or the number holder on the SS-5 is at least 100 years old.
Obviously a ridiculous restriction, especially in light of the fact that determining parents' names is probably the biggest reason the SS-5s are requested in the first place. It's certainly unsettling to know that, after spending over $25 for these little pieces of paper, it's quite likely that the information you're actually seeking won't be there.
Effective 1 November, the SSA determined that it would no longer use state death records for entries in the Public Death Master File -- which is used to generate the SSDI -- and stated it would remove over 4 million records that were previously available in the SSDI because of that decision.
Call me paranoid -- because I am -- but am I the only one getting the distinct impression that the SSA is getting tired of dealing with researchers? If that's the case, just double the fee for the SS-5 forms. That will cull the herd.
