Genealogy Research – aka stalking

Have you ever looked into researching your family tree? Have you noticed what kind of information you can find out about people, especially older people who have been around since the 1930 census (and pretty soon, the 1940 census)? Upon death, social security numbers are published in the Social Security Death Index, and some of that information is still useful. For example, my father passed away in 2000, my mom still receives social security benefits based on his SSN – which is now public information. All of the joint accounts they had together are mostly still with his social. It would make it easy to steal the identity of a dead person. The SSDI is supposed to prevent that, but it doesn’t always work.

Additionally, genealogy searches turn up information about living people as well – things such as the US Public Records Index – which includes current address information and birthdate – all useful information if you’re searching for someone. By default, most web sites “hide” living relations in your family tree, but you have an option to make it public (and there are incentives to do so to find more about your family).

If you’re interested in genealogy, try using some of your skills to find information about someone not in your family tree (the older they are, the more likely you’ll find information), or if you know how to find information about people, there are genealogists waiting to talk to you to help them find long lost relatives.