4 ms·

What It’s Like to Be Declared Dead by the Government

20 points by ryan_j_naughton 11y ago

junto 11y ago
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the social security number isn't actually unique. Is that true?
- dspillett 11y ago
  If it is anything like the NINo in the UK it should be unique but for various reasons (i.e. due to various mistakes) sometimes isn't can can't be entirely relied upon to be.
- zyxley 11y ago
  From what I understand, they're supposed to be unique, but there are millions of cases where one person has more than one SSN, the same SSN is accidentally or intentionally used by multiple people, etc. http://www.computerworld.com/article/2552992/it-management/not-so-unique.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2552992/it-management/n... There are also plenty of people who just plain don't have social security numbers, like the Old Order Amish.
thret 11y ago
For a humorous take on this situation, may I recommend reading Catch 22.
reuven 11y ago
The real problem, as described in this article, is that it's all too easy for someone to enter the wrong number. There is no checksum digit on the Social Security Numbers, so if someone accidentally types a 1 instead of a 2, the wrong person is declared dead. Given this, it's amazing that the error rate is so low. I also have to assume that given the size of the United States, and the number of computer systems that expect a certain format of SSN, that the odds of adding a checksum digit are basically zero. Which means that these errors will continue for some time, and that the only solution is basically for the Social Security Administration to double- and triple-check reported deaths.
- hannibalhorn 11y ago
  The article mentions that a funeral director mistyped a SSN, so the SSA does receive bad information from "trusted" sources. That said, I would presume they ask for a full name, not just a SSN, in the death notice. They don't seem to be verifying that the name more-or-less matches at all. Certainly there are not 12,000 deaths a year where a one digit error in the SSN would lead to another person with the same name.
- jug 11y ago
  Many countries do use checksum digits, but I just found that Denmark is an interesting case where they no longer (!) require or use checksums that were previously mandatory. The reason is supposedly an increasing number of immigrants with uncertain dates who're then registered as born on January 1, or the first day in a month. Now that's a funny case of having to abandon best practices.
  - pavel_lishin 11y ago
    Wow, that's interesting. I wonder why they didn't just assign random birth dates to them?
jkot 11y ago
> some 2.8 million per year. Considering this, their annual 12,000 erroneous death declarations amounts to an error rate of less than 1%. I would say this is very very high ratio.

junto 11y ago

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the social security number isn't actually unique. Is that true?

dspillett 11y ago
If it is anything like the NINo in the UK it should be unique but for various reasons (i.e. due to various mistakes) sometimes isn't can can't be entirely relied upon to be.
zyxley 11y ago
From what I understand, they're supposed to be unique, but there are millions of cases where one person has more than one SSN, the same SSN is accidentally or intentionally used by multiple people, etc. http://www.computerworld.com/article/2552992/it-management/not-so-unique.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2552992/it-management/n... There are also plenty of people who just plain don't have social security numbers, like the Old Order Amish.

thret 11y ago

For a humorous take on this situation, may I recommend reading Catch 22.

reuven 11y ago

The real problem, as described in this article, is that it's all too easy for someone to enter the wrong number. There is no checksum digit on the Social Security Numbers, so if someone accidentally types a 1 instead of a 2, the wrong person is declared dead. Given this, it's amazing that the error rate is so low. I also have to assume that given the size of the United States, and the number of computer systems that expect a certain format of SSN, that the odds of adding a checksum digit are basically zero. Which means that these errors will continue for some time, and that the only solution is basically for the Social Security Administration to double- and triple-check reported deaths.

hannibalhorn 11y ago
The article mentions that a funeral director mistyped a SSN, so the SSA does receive bad information from "trusted" sources. That said, I would presume they ask for a full name, not just a SSN, in the death notice. They don't seem to be verifying that the name more-or-less matches at all. Certainly there are not 12,000 deaths a year where a one digit error in the SSN would lead to another person with the same name.
jug 11y ago
Many countries do use checksum digits, but I just found that Denmark is an interesting case where they no longer (!) require or use checksums that were previously mandatory. The reason is supposedly an increasing number of immigrants with uncertain dates who're then registered as born on January 1, or the first day in a month. Now that's a funny case of having to abandon best practices.
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  Wow, that's interesting. I wonder why they didn't just assign random birth dates to them?

jkot 11y ago

> some 2.8 million per year. Considering this, their annual 12,000 erroneous death declarations amounts to an error rate of less than 1%. I would say this is very very high ratio.