Yes, SSA, I'm sure I'm me

Periodically, this post pops up in my social media feeds: “The biggest joke on humankind is that computers have started asking humans to prove they are not robots.”  Funny/Not funny, because I—and probably a lot of you—are both accustomed to and annoyed by proving our identity over and over, whether by CAPTCHA or “authenticators” or texts to our phones.  The Social Security Administration is a little late for the party, but the agency is going all out to make up for lost time.

While it is possible to apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) through either via a paper/fillable PDF application form or over the phone, these methods can be time consuming and tedious.  Filling out the form is relatively simple, but confirming and tracking that it reached the SSA and that the agency is processing it is challenging.  Calling the SSA’s main number or even calling the local office’s direct number—if you can find it—frequently puts the caller into a hold queue that can take an hour or more to progress through until the caller can finally reach a next step in the call.  The call-back feature is offered inconsistently.  The same challenges, of course, apply to arranging to begin one’s application by phone.  The SSA website and the agency’s pre-recorded message urge applicants to apply online.  Most of us would prefer to do this, anyway, accustomed as we are to obtaining everything from news to continuing education to groceries and concert tickets through online purchases. 

In fact, the SSA’s online application for retirement benefits, survivor’s benefits, SSI or SSDI, works quite well, provided that you pull together beforehand all the information that they tell you upfront that you are going to need.  Even lack of full preparedness is not a problem as long as you screenshot your re-entry code in case the piece of paper you write it down on disappears.  The main technological hurdle to applying for Social Security benefits online is the identity-proving process that has been required since April 2025.

In the good old days, one could submit an online application without, or at least before, creating a “My Social Security” account.  Now, however, the claimant is required to open an account as the initial step of submitting and application.  And the second step of creating a “My Social Security” account is to create a “Login.gov” or “ID.me” secondary account.  None of these accounts can be created prior to the person turning 18, which means that the application cannot be tied up in the days leading up to the 18^th birthday.  Then, the creation of the Login.gov or ID.me secondary account is a multi-step process that requires several rounds of codes, texted to a cell phone, and also an upload of photos of the front and back of the government-issued ID of the person who is filing for benefits as well as a selfie of the person her/himself.  The photos cannot be taken in advance.  One must use links sent to the cell phone during the process of creating the account.

This presents a number of challenges.  First, the person applying for benefits must have a driver’s license or state ID.  Passports (despite being valid IDs as well) or other forms of photo identification are not accepted.  The ID must be appropriately aligned and focused within the box, delineated by the app.  For any of us that use our bank’s online check-deposit feature and have spent time zooming in and out, unable to bring a check into reliable focus—taking photos of the ID are a lot like that.  Second, the person has to be able to look at the phone camera and either maneuver her/his own face into the designated space or sit still while someone else maneuvers the phone camera.  Once all the photos have been taken and accepted by the system, there is a period of waiting while the artificial intelligence behind the system compares the ID photos and the selfie as well as the information listed on the license/ID with the information that the person has entered in the account-creation steps.  It helps if the person removes eyeglasses and any headcovering before taking the selfie.

I have found no objective data on whether it is easier to create a Login.gov account or an ID.me account.  Anecdotally, ID.me has more readily accessible customer service.

The good news is that once you or the person you are assisting has made it through the identity-proving process, the My Social Security account becomes the most secure, reliable, and efficient way to submit certain additional documents including forms beyond the initial application that you may need to move your application forward whether they would be paystubs, tax returns, account statements, or other documents you may need to support your continuing eligibility and/or consideration for Work Incentives.  You may initiate the upload of these forms, or you may need to upload them in response to a request from the SSA.

As the recorded phone message says, “For many people, doing business with Social Security online from the comfort of their own home is the fastest and most convenient to receive service.”  Once you get past proving that you are, in fact you, and not a robot, this is likely to be true.