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Government Mistakenly Declares Deaths of Citizens

Posted by Soulskill on from the totally-nonsensationalist-headline dept.

superbrose writes "According to MSNBC, thousands of U.S. citizens have wrongfully been declared dead, due to an average of 35 data input errors per day by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Many other agencies rely on the data provided by the SSA, such as the IRS. People who have been wrongfully declared dead face many problems, such as rejection of tax returns, cancellation of health insurance, and closure of bank accounts. The article states, 'Input of an erroneous death entry can lead to benefit termination and result in financial hardship for a beneficiary.' Apparently it is far easier to declare a person's death than it is to correct the mistake. It continues, 'Social Security says an erroneous death record can be removed only when it is presented with proof that the original record was entered in error. The original error must be documented, and the deletion must be approved by a supervisor after "pertinent facts supporting reinstatement" are available in the system.'"

17 of 361 comments (clear)

  1. Do you trust the government with your idenity? by Nomen+Publicus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just wait until everybody has ID cards. Having your card cancelled by mistake is going to really ruin your day, month and quite probably, year.

    1. Re:Do you trust the government with your idenity? by Cal+Paterson · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's because "Left" changed its meaning between 1910 and 1945; it used to mean what is now libertarianism(/classical liberalism). "Right" changed its meaning later on, probably when religion and neoconservationism got involved in US politics. As such, the old distinction between individualism (Left) and collectivism (Right) got moved around and the left-right spectrum is no longer of any use. Nowadays, "Right" and "Left" are mostly used to affiliate people with various parties (but not ideologies), essentially because certain parts of socialism are very easy to sell to the public.

    2. Re:Do you trust the government with your idenity? by Dun+Malg · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I don't know anyone who looks like their passport photo. As long as you're the right gender and have the right skin color, you can probably get away with a surprising number of other differences. Not to mention that a photo is not worth any more than the rigor with which they check it. Are you fucking serious? I would assume that an official trying to help you re-animate a dead identity would perhaps scrutinize the photo a bit closer than, say, a DHS dolt at a window at the airport processing eight hundred people a day. News flash! Government employees are not all copies of the same model robot with identical programming! They think! They reason! They apply varying degrees of effort depending on the importance of the task!
      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    3. Re:Do you trust the government with your idenity? by glwtta · · Score: 5, Funny

      They think! They reason! They apply varying degrees of effort depending on the importance of the task!

      Heh, that made me chuckle. What country are you in? I'd like to go meet some of your government employees someday, they sound like quite the curiosity.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
    4. Re:Do you trust the government with your idenity? by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Interesting

      California ID's require a thumb print and a photo, which are recorded at a central office. If your card does not match what they have on record, then it is a fake. If you don't match what is on record, then you are also a fake.

      I would hope that if I was marked as being dead someone could look at my birth certificate, and see that yes I'm about the right age. Then look at my state id, and check the photo and biometric information if available. And I assume a layperson is able to make the judgment that someone is alive when they are physically moving and talking to them.

      This is why I hate governments, so much fricken paperwork. My friend was accidentally assigned the same SSN as another person that was born on the same day and had the same name as him. He didn't find out until he had to get a background check for a job and found that the other guy has some felony arrests on his record.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  2. Netcraft has prior art? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't there prior art in this case?

    Netcraft certainly have a business model that would appear to pre-date this government declaring things dead situation.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  3. It's official... by JonasH · · Score: 5, Funny

    Being dead can quickly ruin your life!

  4. Logic suggests... by tverbeek · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apparently it is far easier to declare a person's death than it is to correct the mistake.
    "As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create." - Spock
    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  5. simple solution.. just contact nobel prize winner by ptr2004 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lal Bihari
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lal_Bihari
    He founded the Association of the Dead .. for chrissake !!

  6. I wonder if it wouldn't be much less trouble ... by golodh · · Score: 5, Funny
    to make reality conform to the records. Purely as an administrative procedure you see. Off the record of course, but much quicker than setting about altering the records.

    After all ... we can't have inaccurate records now, can we? That would be the road to chaos! And think of the savings. We wouldn't have to go on record recording changes to the records, and who benefit from such a record?

    Why not set up an adminstrative comittee suitably empowered to, and responsible for, maintaining the integrity of the records? How about that? It would solve this little problem in record time!

  7. Re:death certificate by the+bluebrain · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wouldn't they get a clue if you walked into their main office breathing and all?

    Occam's razor has a bureaucratic counterpart: "All things being equal, the solution that means I don't have to do any extra work tends to be the best one."

    You're still dead, friend.

    --
    yes, we have no bananas
  8. Re:This is great news! by freaknl · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course, there's the downside. No more sex, since necrophilia is also against the law ...

    I don't think it is illegal for the dead person to have sex in any jurisdiction, just find yourself another dead person to do it with and you are both in the clear.

  9. Re:wouldn't it be great? by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Funny

    At this point, he's more likely an Obama supporter

    The thing is, Obama - through sheer audacity of hope and lefty rhetoric - actually can bring the dead back to life. Also, college girls actually faint when he talks. Now that's qualifications for being Commander in Chief, no matter how extensive is your opponent's collection of Pentagon-briefing-ready pantsuits.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  10. Bigger Problem Than You Think by rrz103 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is a bigger problem than the post alludes to. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) put in to effect a new rule, called the "No-Match Rule" which requires an employer to terminate an employee when receiving a letter from the DHS or the Social Security Administration (SSA), that the new employee in question doesn't exist in the SSA database. There is a period of 90 days in which to contest the no-match rule but if you're not on top of things, your employer has to fire you.

    Right now there is a stay on that rule ordered by a district court in California, but it goes to show you some small error can have big consequences. See AFL-CIO v. Chertoff, No. 07-4472 (N.D. Cal filed Aug. 29, 2007. Apparently the DHS is looking into revising the rule.

    More here

  11. Hang on, I've got to go register a domain by BovineSpirit · · Score: 5, Funny

    AdultZombieFinder.com: Bringing America's dead together.

  12. Re:Ahh the data entry clerk by CedgeS · · Score: 5, Interesting

    35 errors per day is actually a pretty significant error rate. There are about (8.26 / 1000 / year * 301,139,947 * 1 day) = 6810 deaths per day in the US, so they are entering or receiving about one out of every 200 records incorrectly. This means that about ((35 / day) / 301,139,947 * 77.8 year) = .0033 or one in every three hundred people will be incorrectly marked dead during their lifetime if this error rate continues.

  13. Re:What should have been. by Jesus_666 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The solution is not more digits, but to make social security numbers, nay ALL identifying numbers, self checksumming.
    SSNs aren't even checksummed? Holy shit, that's pretty primitive for a number that can ruin a person's life if entered incorrectly.


    The German ID card, for example, has a 26-character alphanumeric string that features no less than four checksums:
    The first nine digits contain information about your main domicile and a serial number. The tenth digit is the checksum for them. The block ends with a single character identifying your citizenship (AFAIK it's always "D").
    The next seven digits are your date of birth in the format YYMMDD and a checksum for the DOB.
    The next seven digits are the expiration date for the ID card in the same format and a checksum for them.
    The last digit is a checksum for all preceding digits.

    That way a simple error is likely to be noticed and the software could even tell you which part was entered incorrectly.
    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)