Genealogy Sites Remove Social Security Numbers From Listings
NBC4i – A popular web site has decided to remove Social Security numbers of the recently deceased from its listings.
NBC4 first reported on the Thomas family in May 2011. Samantha Thomas was an infant when she died from sudden infant death syndrome in 2010. While her parents were still mourning her death, they found out that someone had used her SSN on their taxes.
NBC4 stepped in, confirming that a branch of popular web site Ancestry.com was listing the full Social Security numbers of those who have passed on. It’s a way for criminals to get information fast.
The company removed the Social Security numbers of those who have recently died from the web site this week.
Sen. Sherrod Brown spearheaded the effort to have the numbers removed after NBC4 contacted him about the issue.
