fringe: lack of controls in US Social Security Administration regarding SSN

[Henry Brown <hbrown () knology net>]

http://fcw.com/articles/2010/03/11/ssa-issues-61-percent-of-replacement-cards-in-error-ig-says.aspx

The Social Security Administration’s system errors are causing the 
incorrect issuance of replacement Social Security cards, according to a 
new report from the SSA’s Office of Inspector General.

Despite the errors, SSA generally complies with limits on replacement 
cards, SSA Inspector General Patrick O'Carroll said in the March 4 
report. http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-02-09-19006.pdf

Congress required limits on Social Security Number replacement cards as 
an anti-terrorism measure in 2004. Under the law, people can get a 
maximum of three replacement cards per year and 10 over a lifetime. The 
SSA’s Modernized Enumeration System tracks the number of replacement 
cards and the codes used to exceed those limits under permitted exceptions.

The IG identified 1,632 people who were issued four or five SSN 
replacement cards in a year. The IG then reviewed a random sample of 50 
people in that group.

It found that 58 percent of the sample group received four or five 
replacement cards in a year, exceeding the limit, even though they did 
not have a valid exception for the additional cards, the report said.

...

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