U.S. lawmakers are trying to limit access to the Social Security Administration's Death Master File in response to crimes involving identity theft, Bloomberg reports. The legislation responds to instances such as when Illinois resident Lisa Watters filed her taxes and claimed her recently deceased five-year-old son as a dependent and found an identity thief had already done the same. The Death Master File contains information on more than 89 million individuals and is the subject of a U.S. House of Representatives hearing today. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has sponsored legislation to limit access to the file. Credit reporting agencies, pension funds and life insurers are opposing restrictive proposals that would deny them access to the data they need, the report states. Editor's Note: For more on this topic, read "Accessing public information in the digital age," in May's edition of The Privacy Advisor.
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