Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomer
I had not tried to log in to Social Security for a long time, until about an hour ago. I never made it because the process is a convoluted mess. It now requires that govID thing or whatever it is called.
I could not believe it was asking me to take a picture of myself with my driver's license. It is supposed to be some kind of new authentication add-on. Sending a code to my phone was not enough. Now it wants me to take a picture of myself and send it to them. How creepy.
How can putting even more information online be more secure? Is this supposed to be the latest, greatest, state-of-the-art security? If so, why is it still asking us to check those stupid boxes with pictures in them to prove we are not robots?
All I wanted was my 2025 statement. It was easy to get to the last time I looked. I probably printed it then but can't find it now.
I thought maybe it was just me, so I asked Google and found out I am not the only one ranting about this. I backed out because it does not feel secure to me. Adding two more pieces of information to a system that could be ripe for hacking makes me wary.
Does anybody know how to return to getting annual statements in the mail?
I miss the last century. Almost every day, I find myself quoting Dorothy Parker who was said to answer her door or phone by saying, "What fresh hell is this?" I don't say it to phone calls or visitors, but I say it when I turn on the computer and see what's new.
Boomer
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This extra work to access an account is an attempt to be sure who it is that is typing at the other end of the keyboard.
- Providing a SS number will identify an account and a name
- A picture of a Govt ID will associate a face to the name
- A picture of the back side of the Govt ID is an extra attempt to defeat fake IDs
- A picture of you will associate a face to the person typing at a keyboard
- If the face in the picture matches the face on the ID then there is some confidence of who is actually typing
- If they ask for you to hold the Govt ID in your picture then they are trying to prevent someone who is not you from simply gathering pictures for the process
All of that is to prove that the person behind the keyboard is truly the person who owns the SS number that is being accessed. It's a pain in the butt to create but it's a pretty secure way to ensure the proper person is accessing the account.
This time you only wanted to get your statement but next time you might be trying to change the bank account the payments are going into. As the owner of my account, I am thankful that there is this level of security making sure that any changes are authorized.