Changes Are Coming to How You Access Social Security’s Online Services | SSA (2024)

We’re making changes to the way you access Social Security’s online services, including your personal my Social Security account. The changes will simplify your sign-in experience and align with federal authentication standards. At the same time, we’re continuing to provide safe and secure access to our online services.

If you created your my Social Security account before September 18, 2021, you will still be able to use your username and password to sign in. However, you will not be able to do so for much longer.

In the near future, all users will need to have an account with one of our two Credential Service Providers (CSP) – Login.gov or ID.me – to access your personal mySocial Securityaccount and other online services.

To learn more, read our press release. If you have an existing Login.gov or ID.me account, you do NOT need to create a new one. And, if you can access your personal my Social Security account through Login.gov or ID.me, you don’t need to take any action.

If you don’t have a Login.gov account

To avoid any disruptions in accessing Social Security’s online services you may want to transition your account now by signing in with your Social Security username. Our online instructions will guide you through the process of creating a new account with Login.gov. Once you successfully link your personal my Social Security account with your new Login.gov account, you’ll get a confirmation screen and have immediate access to our online services. In the future, you’ll sign in to your account with Login.gov and not your Social Security username.

Login.gov offers 24/7 customer phone and chat support to answer your questions.

We encourage you to make the transition to Login.gov or ID.me now before the username option goes away later this year.

You’ll find more helpful information here.

Please share these important upcoming changes with your family members, friends, and colleagues.

Tags: General Information, my Social Security, online services

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1. MP

   August 1, 2024 6:50AM

   To share my experience… It might help somebody. Posting this video again – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i5ZvVIERxE Very helpful!

   My experience was flawless. It was flawless because I’m reasonably young and still have most of my marbles with me, meticulous, have spent my life working online, including in web development capacity and I’ve gone insane a whole week looking for any information and tips that can help me with this process described as nightmarish by so many. On top of that, I live overseas, so being able to have online access was absolutely crucial! Otherwise, when time comes to apply for benefits, I’d have to go to ANOTHER COUNTRY! That being said, I can’t imagine how very old and/or disabled people or people not used to online work and working around bugs and potential bugs would do it… it…

   Some tips while they’re still fresh in my mind.

   – Most Americans at home would not do that, but so you know, do NOT use a VPN when working with login.gov. It generates that 403 error, which then transfers at the bottom of the old SSA screen (authorization failed). SSA still works, though. That error occurs in the middle of the process – when selecting back-up options.

   – I had a legacy SSA account, so I logged in from the SSA website at first, with the old credentials and moved to login.gov from there.

   – For other expats: unfortunately, login.gov does recognize Google Voice as a VoIP number and does not send codes to it, so, unless you go for the fancy methods, your only other option is the 10 back-up codes. They ARE given to you, online. At the end, I wasted one of them to make sure everything’s fine and the login.gov account was connected to SSA. It was; no additional effort on my end.

   – When you go back from login.gov to SSA, SSA asks if you have some different code starting with A that might’ve been received by mail, in the office, etc. Say NO!!! You’re supposed to get that code only if everything became a mess online and you had to call SSA or go to an office. After you say NO on that screen, you just refill very basic info for yourself that SSA already has, but whatever, and end up where you’ve always been when signing to SSA before.

   – Oh, at the last step, SSA also wants a phone number (no e-mail option like before) to text or call. Don’t remember if it was one, or the other, or both, but SSA called my Google Voice number and gave me that A-(dash) 8-digit number (the one you have to say NO to earlier). It can be repeated once, but then the automatic system hangs up on you, so be ready to write it down and prick up your ears. I assume this request can be repeated, need be, but I’m not positive.

   – There’s no scanning and uploading of any documents involved, no DL or credit cards, no biometrics, no video calls, no pics taken only with a “smart” spying device or any other BS of that nature. You’ll encounter this kind of “fun” if you select the more “secure” authentication methods. If you LOVE and own the latest tech, go for it! I’m secure enough, thank you very much. In fact, more than secure enough! I’m sick and tired of “safety” and “security” for “my own good”!

   Good luck with the newest crazy hurdle presented specifically to the elderly and the most vulnerable and unable to cope with it! Hope things work out for you, too.

   Reply

2. Karen

   August 1, 2024 5:40AM

   Too complicated to log in and get to basic information that most of us use the most. Overall not user friendly or intuitive especially when I was trying to enter my date of birth. Who is this suppose to be easier for because it is certainly not easy for elderly.

   Reply

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