U. S. Social Security Account Access

[NewsLady]

To the U. S. Expat community:

 

Recently I received a copy of the following response from the SSI to a U. S. citizen living in Boquete. It concerns those receiving Social Security benefits and the access to their My Social Security internet accounts. 

 

Hank Landis, U.S. Embassy Warden

Landis.boquete.warden@comcast.net

 

 

Thank you for contacting the Social Security Administration.

We apologize for the delay in answering your inquiry. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. 

                                            

On July 30, 2016, we began requiring new and current my Social Security account holders to sign into their account using a one-time code sent via text message. This second layer of security that requires more than a username and a password is known as “multifactor authentication.” Although we have always provided the “extra security” option to account holders, we implemented this new process to comply with the President’s Executive Order on Improving the Security of Consumer Financial Transactions.

We have a fundamental responsibility to protect the public’s personal information. However, multifactor authentication inconvenienced or restricted access to some of our account holders. We’re listening to the public’s concerns and are responding by temporarily rolling back this mandate.

As before July 30, current account holders will be able to access their secure account using only their username and password. We highly recommend the extra security text message option, but it will not be required. Now, we are developing an alternative authentication option, besides text messaging, that we will implement within the next six months.

We strive to balance security and customer service options, and we want to ensure that our online services are both easy to use and secure. The best way our customers can secure their information is to create a my Social Security account. If a person already has an account, a fraudulent attempt to create an account would be unsuccessful. The my Social Security service has always featured a robust verification and authentication process, and it remains safe and secure.

We regret any inconvenience our customers may have experienced.

[Uncle Doug]

Great news.  I'm not a big fan of Executive Orders in general, but this one definitely needed to be revoked.