Access To Social Security's Computers

There have been many reports that Social Security has been working on ways to allow claimants and their attorneys to have limited access to Social Security's computer records. It has never been clear how soon this would be coming into general use. A document that Social Security published in the Federal Register suggests that it may not be much longer. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, whenever Social Security or any other agency requests information from the public in any systematic way, the agency has to request clearance from the Office of Management and Budget. A summary of what is planned must be posted in the Federal Register. Social Security has published a notice in the Federal Register that it intends to request that individuals provide passwords to obtain internet access to Social Security's computer records. Actually, to some extent this is old news since Social Security had already obtained clearance for the use of passwords for trials that have been underway. Now Social Security is providing some different numbers for the number of people they expect to be providing passwords. It is now estimated to be 1,630,771 per year, signaling a dramatic expansion coming soon.