The Social Security Administration is finalizing a stricter identity-proofing policy that will require millions of beneficiaries to set up an account online or show up in person at an agency field office or nearby post office.
SSA will eliminate an option for individuals to verify their identity over the phone to receive retirement benefits or request direct deposit changes. Instead, these SSA beneficiaries will have to verify their identity through the agency’s “my Social Security” online platform or show up at an SSA field office or post office to complete the verification process.
SSA is seeking these changes to reduce fraudulent payments. The agency planned to implement these changes on March 31, but put them on hold after getting immediate pushback from SSA beneficiaries and advocate groups.
Delma Cardona, SSA’s assistant deputy commissioner of operations, told agency officials in a meeting this week that a narrower set of identity-proofing changes will now go into effect on April 14.
SSA’s new identity proofing requirements will apply to retirees and their survivors, but will no longer apply to disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries.
“We’re hoping that addresses some of the concerns that we know are out there,” Cardona said in a recording of the meeting obtained by Federal News Network.
Starting April 14, SSA will also no longer accept direct deposit changes through its 1-800 toll-free number. Cardona said SSA will set up a specialized phone queue to help individuals calling to make a direct deposit change. SSA employees will help callers through the process of setting up a mySSA account or walk them through the steps to set up direct deposit through their accounts.
“We know that there’s individuals that are going to fall out from that process. We know that direct deposit for Title 16 does not exist on ‘my Social Security,’” Cardona said, referring to the section of the Social Security Act that covers SSI. “Those individuals will be reverted to in-person services until we have some additional options available to them that we are currently working on.”
The Associated Press reported last month that Leland Dudek, the agency’s acting commissioner, told reporters SSA is losing more than $100 million a year in direct deposit fraud.
SSA, at first, planned to no longer allow people to verify their identity over the phone starting March 31.
Those unable to verify their identity through the agency’s “my Social Security” online service would be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process.
This earlier plan would have also impacted recipients of disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income — a program that provides monthly payments to people with disabilities and older adults who have little or no income.
The initial plan received pushback from retirees and their advocates over concerns these changes would have a disproportionate impact on certain SSA beneficiaries, including older Americans living in rural areas far from an SSA field office, individuals with limited internet access and retirees with disabilities or limited mobility.
To address these concerns, Cardona said SSA is looking to partner with the Postal Service and allow SSA beneficiaries to verify their identity in person at thousands of post offices across the country.
USPS offers in-person identity proofing services at 19,000 post office locations across the country — a much larger footprint than SSA’s approximately 1,230 field offices. USPS has expanded its identity-proofing capabilities in recent years and is already working with several agencies to provide these services.
USPS, working with the General Services Administration, allows federal agencies to obtain or renew their Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards at post offices across the country. It’s also working with the Labor Department to offer in-person identity proofing for people looking to apply for unemployment insurance.
About 99% of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of their nearest post office. Cardona said a partnership with USPS would make in-person identity proofing more accessible to SSA beneficiaries who live far away from the nearest field office.
“When you compare the number of post offices to the number of field offices that we have available, they are much, much larger,” Cardona said. “We have been in communication with the Department of Labor, and we are in communication very soon with the post offices to be able to leverage that option.”
Cardona said she doesn’t expect SSA will finalize a partnership with USPS right away, “but we are trying our best to make it available by [April] 14th or shortly thereafter.”
In cases where an in-person visit is inaccessible for SSA beneficiaries, Cardona said SSA is working on a “video service delivery” option for identity verification.
“They can use their phone, they can use an iPad — they might be able to use their relative’s, if they don’t have one —to be able to prove their identity with Social Security,” she said.
Remote identity proofing has been a longstanding challenge for the federal government.
Login.gov, a one-stop for government-provided public services, began offering facial recognition as a way for users to verify themselves in October 2024.
The previous year, an inspector general report found GSA misled agency customers about meeting the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2) standard for remote identity proofing.
The IRS faced scrutiny from Congress in 2022 when it launched a new identity verification process that required taxpayers to create an account with the vendor ID.me and submit a selfie. The agency now has ID verification options that don’t require facial recognition.
Cardona said SSA is currently working on a risk assessment to make sure its facial recognition service is secure.
“Keep in mind, what we’re trying to do here is to avoid fraud and waste, and to protect our customers. So every step that we take, we need to look at it from that perspective,” Cardona said. “If using video is not a secure option, then it’s going to defeat the purpose of what we’re trying to do. We need to make sure that it is safe and secure enough that it allows us to accept the documentation, and we are comfortable that it’s not a fraudster or a bad actor who’s behind the other side of the screen.”
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