"I've actually had, in one week, one of my closest relatives and one of my closest friends and neighbors (who both) were declared dead. So I was right in the middle of it. It is a horrible thing to go through", Astrue was quoted by Scripps News service as telling the House Ways and Means Committee’s social security subcommittee.
The Social Security Administration publishes every year its death master file, which is a public database that provides information on deceased US citizens as a death verification tool designed to prevent fraud. However, the audit of the list found that it contained personally identifiable information, including social security numbers, of 36,657 living individuals over a three year period.
"Anyone of us could find ourselves mistakenly on that list – an inexcusable mistake that exposes our personal information and could cause severe personal and financial hardship", said Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), who convened the hearing into the inaccuracies in the death master file.
"Social Security's policy is not to inform Americans when they are victims of these kinds of errors. Why can't you tell the victims and let them take immediate action to protect themselves?" Johnson asked Astrue, who responded “We are relooking at this now.” Johnson said he introduced a bill, the Keeping IDs Safe Act (HR 2475), that would stop the sale of the death master file to third parties.