Without the help of genealogists, the SSDI may disappear entirely from
public view within the next few weeks.
The U. S. House of Representatives has been holding hearings about closing
public access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) because of concerns
that the Social Security numbers of deceased individuals could be used to
commit fraud. The last hearing was on February 2, 2012, and the threat of
losing this great resource is real! And it is imminent!
We need to act now. Even those of who are not politically active, who want
to know both sides of the issues before choosing a side, and those who are
just generally reluctant to sign petitions.
We need to be guided in our actions by genealogical experts. Those experts
include the Federation of Genealogical Societies at
http://voice.fgs.org/
and the Records Preservation & Access Committee (RPAC), a joint coalition of
international genealogical societies representing millions of genealogists
and family historians.
The RPAC has launched a petition to save the SSDI. It is called the Stop ID
Theft Now campaign with its We the People petition posted at
www.WhiteHouse.gov. Genealogists are being encouraged to act quickly. In
order to have a loud enough voice to be heard, 25,000 signatures are needed
between now and March 8. I have signed the petition. I am signature #707.
Please join me.
To sign the petition, visitors to the WhiteHouse website must log in to sign
the petition or click
Create an Account to register. Registration is really quite simple and
quick. If I can do it, you can, too. Once registered, return to
http://wh.gov/khE to sign the petition.
The petition reads as follows: "WE THE PEOPLE PETITION THE OBAMA
ADMINISTRATION TO: Take steps to stop fraudulent tax refund claims based
upon identity theft from recently deceased infants & adults NOW.
"The IRS could curtail such claims almost immediately if tax refund claims
were screened against the SSA's Death Master File and matching cases
identified for special processing.
"This filter, together with other viable and easily implemented safeguards
could actually expedite the processing of such claims.
"The National Taxpayer Advocate has also endorsed the use of IRS-iddued
Identity Protection PINs and allowing taxpayers to turn OFF the ability to
file tax returns electronically using specified SSNs.
To read more about what prominent genealogists are saying about the loss of
the SSDI check out the website at
http://michaelhait.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/ssdi-hearing/.
Please feel free to pass this on to any person or group who has a
genealogical interest.
Thank you.
Randi Richardson
#707