Social Security Numbers:
Transfers and Sales of Public Records That May Contain Social Security Numbers (GAO-08-1004SP, September 2008), an E-supplement to GAO-08-1009R
GAO-08-1004SP: Published: Sep 19, 2008. Publicly Released: Sep 19, 2008.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
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Various public records in the United States contain Social Security numbers (SSNs) and other personal identifying information that could be used to commit fraud and identity theft. In recent years, record keepers in some localities have been maintaining electronic images of their records that can be easily transferred to other parties in bulk quantities or made available through the Internet. To learn more about the availability and use of these records, GAO conducted a study to determine the extent, reasons, and to whom records that may contain SSNs are available in bulk and online; as well as measures taken to protect SSNs that may be contained in these records. Specifically, we surveyed a sample of county record keepers, including those from 97 of the counties with the largest populations, and a random selection of 150 of the remaining counties. We obtained a response rate of 88.9 percent. A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology is contained in our report "Social Security Numbers: Social Security Numbers are Widely Available in Bulk and Online Records, but Changes to Enhance Security are Occurring" GAO-08-1009R (Washington, D.C.: September 19, 2008). This e-publication supplements our report by presenting the item by item results of our web-based survey of county record keepers. We administered the survey from March through May 2008 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Nov 16, 2020
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Financial Audit:
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-174R: Published: Nov 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020. -
Financial Audit:
Federal Housing Finance Agency's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-201R: Published: Nov 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020. -
Financial Audit:
Securities and Exchange Commission's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-192R: Published: Nov 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020.
Nov 10, 2020
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Financial Audit:
IRS's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-162: Published: Nov 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 10, 2020. -
Financial Audit:
Office of Financial Stability's (Troubled Asset Relief Program) FY 2020 and FY 2019 Financial StatementsGAO-21-173R: Published: Nov 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 10, 2020.
Nov 9, 2020
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Financial Audit:
Bureau of the Fiscal Service's FY 2020 and FY 2019 Schedules of Federal DebtGAO-21-124: Published: Nov 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 9, 2020.
Nov 6, 2020
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FY 2020 Excise Tax:
Agreed-Upon Procedures Related to Distributions to Trust FundsGAO-21-163R: Published: Nov 6, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 6, 2020.
Oct 13, 2020
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DOD Financial Management:
Continued Efforts Needed to Correct Material Weaknesses Identified in Financial Statement AuditsGAO-21-157: Published: Oct 13, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 13, 2020.
Sep 30, 2020
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Financial Management:
DOD Needs to Implement Comprehensive Plans to Improve Its Systems EnvironmentGAO-20-252: Published: Sep 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 30, 2020.
Sep 9, 2020
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Defense Real Property:
DOD-Wide Strategy Needed to Address Control Issues and Improve Reliability of RecordsGAO-20-615: Published: Sep 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 9, 2020.
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