US Social Security Agency Corrects Nearly 15% of Active Records

The US Social Security Administration has corrected nearly 15 percent of active Social Security numbers since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration, in what the agency describes as the largest database clean-up in its 91-year history.

The agency said the work covered records associated with approximately 330 million US citizens and nearly 390 million records overall, aiming to improve identity verification and reduce fraud and improper payments across government programmes.

The updates include adding 17 million dates of death to records that previously lacked the information, using internal agency systems and data from the US Department of State.

The administration has also updated approximately 25 million records with previously missing citizenship information using data from the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements service. A further 8.5 million records with inaccurate citizenship status are being corrected, the agency said.

Social Security Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said accurate records were essential to the administration of government services and benefits, as well as efforts to prevent fraud across federal programmes.

“This is the first time SSA has undertaken an effort of this scale,” Bisignano said, adding that the work would strengthen identity data used across government and the economy.

The agency said it had also introduced stronger internal controls to reduce errors arising from manual data entry.

Social Security records are used by federal and state agencies to verify identities and support the administration of public programmes. The agency said the changes were intended to improve data accuracy and help prevent improper payments of taxpayer funds.

Source: FSX Business News