They could <i>easily</i> allow you to specify the SSN in the request, and verify it against the Social Security Death Index [1]. They just choose not to make it that easy.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Social_Security_Death_Index" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Social_Security_Death_Index</a><p>Disclaimer: One of my projects TODO is to crowdsource the funding of obtaining the SSDI quarterly from the SSA (its expensive [2]), and then provide it as an open API.<p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ssdmf.com&#x2F;FolderID&#x2F;1&#x2F;SessionID&#x2F;%7B67E8C06C-025F-4655-B580-317A322A30C3%7D&#x2F;PageVars&#x2F;Library&#x2F;InfoManage&#x2F;Guide.htm" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ssdmf.com&#x2F;FolderID&#x2F;1&#x2F;SessionID&#x2F;%7B67E8C06C-025F-...</a>