# Can I make use of old Social Security information? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039 "2024-10-21T23:29:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/1 "2024-10-21T23:29:58Z")
I’ve found the social security numbers of many relatives, dead for decades, and I wonder if I can use these numbers to find out information about them, where they worked, their job descriptions, what they were paid, where they lived. It seems to me that these details and much else are on record somewhere, and the SS numbers clearly identify them as themselves, and I can prove that I’m a child, grandchild, cousin, etc of the deceased, so can I access any of this information for genealogical purposes? Seems kind of a waste if the government keeps all of it but doesn’t permit people to access it, so how do I do this? Or can’t I? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/2 "2024-10-22T01:13:36Z")
I would think/hope that any such information, assuming it exists, would be sealed for any deceased person. I’ll see if I can find out whether it might be available to relatives. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/3 "2024-10-22T01:17:09Z")
I think that Social Security information becomes unsealed some amount of time after death, though I don’t know the details. I do know I’ve seen research results based on old SS data, though I don’t know if it was individual data or population aggregates. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/4 "2024-10-22T01:19:43Z")
This website states that the right to privacy ends at death, and _some_ information can be released to a relative. For a fee, of course. [SSA - POMS: GN 03315.010 - Disclosing a Deceased Individual’s Information - 02/28/2024](https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0203315010) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/5 "2024-10-22T04:26:25Z")
SSA definitely has their gross wages for each year they worked. That was necessary to compute their upcoming benefit whether they lived to collect it or not. I take no position on whether SSA will share that with you or not. But the data did most definitely exist while the worker (or their spouse(s) and dependents) were alive. Once all those folks were gone, SSA may or may not have retained it. What SSA will definitely NOT have is rates of pay, job descriptions, employer’s names, residential addresses, etc. SSA gets all their info on ordinary workers annually from IRS. Which is pretty much “Joe Augustus Blow, SSN 123-45-6789, DOB 12/31/45, earned $12,345 in W2 wage income last year (year 20xx) and paid SS taxes of $1,234.” Period. SSA never gets any more info, so that’s all they could possibly divulge. _If_ they were willing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/6 "2024-10-22T04:33:50Z")
Is a lot of what you seem to be asking for necessary for genealogical purposes? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/7 "2024-10-22T13:44:14Z")
If you’re tracking down military service records and really are a child or some such of that (deceased) person, having a SSN can help. Esp. if you don’t know their service number. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/8 "2024-10-22T14:31:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > SSA gets all their info on ordinary workers annually from IRS. Just another idea for the OP, the IRS would have all of the information mentioned from tax returns. But they are probably more restrictive than SSA and may just have a blanket policy not to release anything, even for deceased taxpayers, unless you an an executor/personal representative of an estate. I don’t know but you could probably find out with a phone call or two. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/9 "2024-10-22T15:20:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What SSA will definitely NOT have is rates of pay, job descriptions, employer’s names, residential > addresses, etc Actually, Railer13’s link begins > includes periods of employment or self-employment and includes the names and addresses of employers Of course, being a government-issued document designed to confuse, I may be misreading it. (Sorry about the dangler.) And as to > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is a lot of what you seem to be asking for necessary for genealogical purposes? (omitting your redundant “for”) I don’t know if I’d call anything “necessary” but all information IME leads somewhere and is useful if not strictly necessary. I’ve made a lot of progress in my genealogical searches starting with the smallest tidbits of information. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/10 "2024-10-23T13:18:35Z")
I couldn’t find that language in Ralier13’s link, but searching for those words got me this : > **[ssa-7050.pdf](https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-7050.pdf)** The form also describes who is entitled to get that info and the fees charged. > [@GailForce](#): > > Of course, being a government-issued document designed to confuse, I may be misreading it. (Sorry about the dangler.) Social Security will have some of that information, namely the names and addresses of employers. It will not have the job description, rate of pay or the employee’s address. However, you can find out some of this information from other records - census records will have the person’s address and general occupation (such as laborer) . I’d be really surprised if there was anywhere where you could find the rate of pay rather than the earnings in a specific year - SS knows , for example , that I earned $1904 in 1980 but they have no idea if I worked about 600 hrs at $3.10/hr hour or about 315 hours at $6/hr ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/11 "2024-10-23T16:35:05Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I couldn’t find that language in Ralier13’s link, First item, number “1.” on the very top of the first page. Just historically, you’d think this information would be available at some point. In my case, much of my curiosity is just that, curiosity, about who my father’s employer was in 1937, and how long he remained on the government payroll after WWII was settled etc. but I would imagine that future biographers and historians would find this information helpful to their work, and I have a hard time imagining the government is protecting anyone’s privacy when they’ve been dead for a few generations. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/12 "2024-10-23T19:25:14Z")
IMO there are larger harder questions than protecting the privacy of teh dead. e.g. 1. What info did they think to collect back in 1937? 2. Have they stored it ever since, or did they deliberately throw it away at some point? 3. Is the info somehow practically searchable or is just stoired “just in case” with no practical way to find any one record among millions? 4. Was the info inadvertently destroyed at some point. e.g. fire, computer crash, data left in an old format so long it wasn’t moveable to a newer format? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/13 "2024-10-23T20:00:10Z")
Yes, just as an example I had a subscription to one of those genealogy websites ( [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com) or something similar. ) I was able to find out that my grandfather first started collecting Social Security in 1974 - but he lived until 2000 and I suspect that what happened is when they started computerizing, they moved the records of people who were then receiving benefits but they wouldn’t necessarily have moved records of people who were already deceased. My grandmother died in 1972 and I couldn’t find any SS records for her, even though I think she collected for at least a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/14 "2024-10-24T20:18:43Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > they wouldn’t necessarily have moved records of people who were already deceased. It’s kind of spotty. I’ve gotten lots of detailed data from way before the 1970s from SS records. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/15 "2024-10-24T21:12:44Z")
This doesnt sound very legal to me. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/16 "2024-10-24T21:28:24Z")
What’s the latest census records where data is publicly available? (USA?) I recall reading something about the Britissh census records for 1931 were destroyed in a fire… ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/17 "2024-10-24T22:48:38Z")
1950 records became available in 2022 - they are released 72 years after the census. It’s not clear why 72 years was picked - there are a few theories but no definite answer. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/18 "2024-10-25T14:40:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This doesnt sound very legal to me Specifically, what doesn’t sound legal? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/19 "2024-10-25T17:10:39Z")
Oddly enough, this is in the news - Melania’s mother’s immigration file was released after a FOIA request by the Heritage Foundation. They were making a point that they wanted to see Harry’s file (The royal formerly known as Prince). They were denied that request, but not denied when Melania’s mother’s file was requested. I suppose an distinction is that Ms. Knavs is dead now, Harry is not. Not sure if that is relevant. > In legal filings Heritage claimed that Harry’s discussion of drugs was so brazen it ‘approached the point of bragging and encouraging illegal drug use.’ > DHS refused to hand the records over on the basis that they would breach the privacy of Harry, whose anecdotes in Spare included the time his penis got frostbitten. Also, would the DHS have noticed that someone named Knavs was related to a VIP? How deeply did they read the file first before releasing it? > **[Melania's mom's immigration file released amid bid for Prince Harry's](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13992181/melania-trump-mom-immigration-file-release-prince-harry-visa-records.html)** > > Melania Trump has been left outraged over the Department of Homeland Security's 'unnecessary' decision to release her late mother's immigration records, according to a family lawyer.  ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039/20 "2024-10-25T20:08:47Z")
> [@GailForce](#): > > Specifically, what doesn’t sound legal? Using confidential info to look up more confidential info. I know they are dead, but Unless you are a heir or executor, what business is it of yours what other people earned? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-use-of-old-social-security-information/1009039.md?page=2)