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Web put off-limits to Social Security claims judges
The Social Security Administration last month told its disability-claims judges they are no longer to seek out information from websites when deciding cases ? taking away a tool some of those judges say would help in uncovering fraud.
Agency officials said reviewers can?t trust information posted online, and also said the mere act of typing in queries could compromise protected private information, so they shouldn?t try to access anything.
Social Security?s ban covers all Internet sites, including social media such as Facebook.
But Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican and a top taxpayer watchdog, said avoiding the Internet means giving up a valuable anti-fraud weapon ? one that he said even federal courts have relied upon in some disability cases.
?If an individual claims to be disabled, and then publicly posts a picture participating in a sport or physical activity on a social media website, such information should be used by [adjudicators] to determine if the claimant was truly disabled,? Mr. Coburn wrote in a letter last week to Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue.
The dispute raises Internet-age questions about the information people make available about themselves online, and how proactive government agencies should be in seeking out that information when it comes to granting taxpayer-funded benefits.
Social Security officials said they don?t object to using information gleaned from the Internet, but they don?t want the front-line deciders going out looking for it. They said that?s a job for fraud investigators to follow up on later in the process.
?Adjudicators should do what they are trained to do ? review voluminous files to determine eligibility for disability benefits. Office of Inspector General fraud investigators should do what they are trained to do ? vigorously follow up on any evidence of fraud,? said Kia S. Green, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Disability claims make up two parts of the Social Security system, and an entire legal industry has sprung up to help applicants win their claims.
But Mr. Coburn said without unshackling the judges who review the claims, there?s nobody looking out for taxpayers? interests in the process.
Administrative Law Judge Thomas W. Snook, who is based in Miami, agreed, saying the public has entrusted adjudicators with the responsibility to make good decisions on behalf of the applicants and the public, and the more tools they have, the better.
?After being a judge for over 20 years, I think I can decide on what weight to give the tools available to me,? Judge Snook said.
The Social Security spokeswoman did not say why the policy was implemented just last month, but some judges had already been using information they found on the Internet to deny claims.
The agency?s move to exclude online information comes a year after Mr. Coburn used material he found online to challenge the disability finding of Stanley Thornton Jr., a man who lives part time as an adult baby.
In addition to appearing on a television show building things such as an adult high chair ? which Mr. Coburn said showed carpentry skills ? Mr. Thornton ran a website for others who want to live the ?adult baby? lifestyle. The senator said that showed he had web development skills that could land him a job, too.
Re: Web put off-limits to Social Security claims judges
Hmmm interesting. I would be curious to hear someone's opinion of this who has a legal background. How do privacy concerns factor into this? I would suspect if its online, its public, right?
I used to intern for a law firm that did disability claims. Basically as long as you got a solid doctors note and filed the paperwork correctly, we could get anyone approved for disability (even though we were certain that people were stretching sometimes). I wouldn't mind ALJs having more checks and balances to make sure the funds supported people who were genuinely deserving.
Well that was probably at the initial or recon level for disability claims. It's a lot harder to be approved by an ALJ if I have my figures right and even harder to get approved by the Appeals Council. ALJs and AAJs already tend to be more stringent than the lower level disability examiners (who have no legal or medical background.)
OIG is the appropriate mechanism for determining fraud but they cant examine every person who applies.
I will say that I have never seen a decision where the ALJ says "based on a google search of the claimant" or something. While they may do that, I imagine they follow up on it at the hearing and THAT testimony becomes the basis of the credibility finding. (which is where this would come into play.)
I google claimants a lot - particularly if there is an issue regarding earnings and the like, I want to see where they worked, what kind of company it was, and so on. But we do not have access to Facebook or any similar social media site.