12 December 2011

SSI Index Removed from Rootsweb.com

Thanks to Heather Rojo and many others for pointing out that the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) has been removed from Rootsweb.com. The message reads,

"Due to sensitivities around the information in this database, the Social Security Death Index collection is not available on our free Rootsweb service but is accessible to search on Ancestry.com. Visit the Social Security Death Index page to be directly connected to this collection."

Randy Seaver of San Diego posted an update on his blog, Genea-Musings. His post includes alternate sites for the SSDI:

FamilySearch.org
GenealogyBank.com
Ancestry.com
WorldVitalRecords.com

Please note that some of these sites require you to sign up to be able to search the records. Others require a membership.

The other change you'll note is that Ancestry has stopped providing the Social Security Number for those individuals who have died in the past 10 years. The change may be in reaction to recent legislative efforts to curtail release of SSDI information to avoid identity theft. Ironic, because the SSDI was created explicity to prevent identity theft.

It's unfortunate that the Rootsweb SSDI file was removed. It was undoubtedly the easiest one to use.

We wish you good luck and successful searches in whatever you do.

1 comment:

  1. Hello,

    I found out this afternoon that the SSDI was no longer available on Rootsweb.com. I'm very disappointed! The argument that it will limit identity theft is not a fair one, as there are so many other ways to get information through other channels. All that this does is hurt people who use the databases for their research. More frightening to me is that we are so willing to give up personal liberty for the illusion of safety.

    Well I'm not. I would encourage others to let their representatives know how they feel about this violation of our right to access public records.

    Sincerely,

    James Lane

    ReplyDelete