NCISS Urges House Committee to Keep Death Master List Available

NCISS submitted testimony today to the Subcommittee on Social Security opposing legislation that would restrict access to the Social Security Death Index.

The Subcommittee is holding a hearing Thursday on "Social Security Death Records". Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) has introduced HR 3475, The "Keeping ID's Safe Act", which would prohibit the Social Security Administration from releasing death records to the public. It is one of several pending bills in Congress to restrict access to the records.

In announcing the hearing, Congressman Johnson expressed concern that Social Security number information from the Death Master File (or Social Security Death Index) is used to facilitate identity theft. We responded to this concern by stating:

"The SSDI (Social Security Death Index) is one of the strongest tools in the arsenal used to fight identity theft. When we conduct background checks, due diligence or investigate fraud, the SSDI reveals instantly if someone is using the Social Security number of a deceased individual. It is the best defense we have against the misuse of the identity of deceased persons. A proper use of the SSDI should lead directly to the arrest of identity thieves."

That statement is supported by The Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service (NTIS) which says:

""By methodically running financial, credit, payment and other applications against the Death Master File, the financial community, insurance companies, security firms and state and local governments are better able to identify and prevent identity fraud."

Our statement went on to discuss how I had used death records to assist a pharmaceutical company that was trying to determine how many participants in a drug trial had passed away. Such information is critical, of course, to determine the safety of drugs being marketed to the public.

We also strongly opposed limiting access to Social Security numbers in the death records, as they are essential for distinguishing among the thousands of persons sharing similar names and birth dates. Recently, some private providers of the information have started restricting access to Social Security numbers themselves. NCISS has written to the CEO of Ancestry.com objecting to that restriction.

Your Legislative Committee will continue to oppose efforts to restrict access to Social Security death records.