Using social media as a way to find Social Security disability fraud is dangerous
There has been a growing push in the Trump administration to use the information on a person’s social media accounts to find fraud among Social Security disability recipients. In its 2020 budget request to Congress, the Social Security Administration admitted it is currently studying whether to expand the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to address potential fraud among beneficiaries.
Expanding the use of social media review would require a large cost in time and money to train Social Security employees how to access, review, and use this suspect information. Such an outlay is an ill-advised use of the Social Security Administration’s limited funds and manpower. Offices are closing all over the country and the process for disability applicants is staggeringly growing longer each day. The average wait time for a disability hearing decision is 600 days. I have seen firsthand the strain the Social Security Administration is under in the cases I handle every day. Thousands of valid claims get delayed or are incompletely reviewed because of a lack of administrative law judges and support staff.
The funding problem would only be magnified if President Trump’s proposed budget is passed which would spend $25 billion less on Social Security over the next 10 years.
If Social Security were to expand their reliance on social-media interactions as evidence, it will raise obvious questions of privacy and due process. Currently, the Social Security Administration may not use information from social media to determine the outcome of a disputed claim. Disability examiners and Administrative Law Judges are not trained to evaluate this type of information; therefore, it cannot be considered reliable evidence alone to determine disability.
Eliminating fraud in the public benefit program is certainly an important goal. However, relying on the information contained
If Social Security were to expand their reliance on social-media interactions as evidence, it will raise obvious questions of privacy and due process.
in social media can be deceptive. An individual’s posts and comments do not always portray the complete picture. Additionally, most people only share the positive or happy moments that could be taken out of context if not compared with the rest of a person’s activities.
Many impairments cannot be readily apparent in a cursory review of a photo or comments. For example, a person with Bipolar Disorder may have significant swings with their symptoms that allow them to go to the park one day and make it impossible for them to leave their house the next. The idea that a person with disabling impairments can be determined to be committing fraud simply from a review of their social media posts is flawed and dangerous.
Social Security fraud examiners are currently allowed to use information on social media to assist their investigations and to confirm other evidence found. This is the more reasonable approach. Only when used in concert with other evidence does it make sense for the Social Security Administration to consider the information a person posts on social media when investigating fraud allegations.