Social Security provides CD disks to attorneys of their client files. The agency plans to start encrypting these CDs in the near future. Apple computers will be unable to decrypt these CDs. I have heard a report that Social Security plans to deal with this problem by giving attorneys who use Apple computers priority for signing up to access their clients' files online. I do not yet have details on how this will work. At best, I do not think this is going to fully solve the problem. Apparently, even some Windows users will have problems decrypting the files, depending upon the exact version of Windows they are using. Also, an attorney who uses an Apple computer but who does only occasional business with Social Security is likely to object to having to learn to navigate Social Security's online access process. Of course, it may not be a completely bad idea to discourage dabblers but Social Security needs a better solution for the problem.
Wellll, this gives me a pretty good idea of where to start cutting SSA's funding. Let's hear a real ggod argument about why this is not a complete and total waste of taxpayers' money? How about eliminating the positions of the SRS and GS-16's who dreamed this one up!
ReplyDeleteGS 16? thats new
ReplyDeleteAnd it's SES, not SRS.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as an unencrypted CD is lost and the personal details of some Joe Citizen is published on the internet, who wants to bet that the loudest voices will be saying something about "why wasn't it encrypted" and "typical government stupidity" for putting so much personal information on electronic media unprotected. Yada yada yada
ReplyDeleteSo, let's not encrypt the data (which is actually contrary to government policy) until a solution that works on such a large scale and which covers 100% of every computing device on the face of the earth can be found and put into place. Yeah, not doing anything at all until the perfect solution appears makes sense.
Or maybe encrypt a decent percentage, reducing the risk of exposure of data for those that the risk can be reduced for, while working on alternatives for the remainder.
No, that's viewed as stupid. Wow.