SOCIAL SECURITY CALLS HALT TO ON-LINE ACCESS.Byline: Alice Ann ANN, Scotch law. Half a year's stipend over and above what is owing for the incumbency due to a minister's relict, or child, or next of kin, after his decease. Wishaw. Also, an abbreviation of annus, year; also of annates. In the old law French writers, ann or rather an, signifies a year. Love Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Accused of putting Americans' privacy at risk, the Social Security Administration on Wednesday suspended sus·pend v. sus·pend·ed, sus·pend·ing, sus·pends v.tr. 1. To bar for a period from a privilege, office, or position, usually as a punishment: suspend a student from school. an Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the service that gave taxpayers access to their earnings and benefits records. ``The Internet is a new world and we want to make sure we can provide the highest level of security for our beneficiaries and our workers,'' said acting Social Security Commissioner John J. Callahan said. He said the on-line service will be disabled for at least 60 days while he holds a series of forums across the country with privacy and computer security experts and the public about how to ease fears. Advice also will be sought from banks that provide electronic financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . ``We want to get the benefit of their experience,'' Callahan said. After that, the agency will consider whether new safeguards are needed for the Internet service, including options such as giving people personal access codes or allowing them to request their individual records not be placed in the database. Social Security's entire Internet site will be inaccessible inaccessible Surgery adjective Unreachable; referring to a lesion that unmanageable by standard surgical techniques–eg, lesions deep in the brain or adjacent to vital structures–ie, not accessible. See Accessible. for two or three days while the database is being disabled, but general information and documents about the nation's retirement program will be back on line soon. Taxpayers will still be able to request information about their personal records through electronic mail to the agency, but reports will be sent through regular mail, rather than via the Internet. Callahan said requests from lawmakers earlier this week, questions raised by computer experts interviewed in news reports and phone calls from the public all convinced him to pull the service. The Social Security Administration has offered people access to their earnings and benefits reports for more than a decade, if they sign and mail in a paper request form. Between 3 million and 4 million Americans a year do so. But using regular mail takes up to four to six weeks and costs the government millions of dollars in postage POSTAGE. The money charged by law for carrying letters, packets and documents by mail. By act of congress of March 3, 1851, Minot's Statute at Large, U. S. 587, it is enacted as follows: 2.-Sec. 1. each year. Six months ago, the agency began accepting e-mail requests and last month it made it possible for taxpayers to retrieve their records on line. After national news reports about the service earlier this week, the number of people using it jumped from 3,000 a day to about 8,500. Critics say anyone with knowledge of another person's Social Security number, their mother's maiden name maiden name n. A woman's family name before she is married. Used of a surname that is replaced by a woman when she marries. Also called birth name. and the state where they were born could access the records electronically to learn their job history, salary and other information. |
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