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Ancestry.com Removes SSNs from Its Website

Ancestry.com has removed the Social Security numbers of the deceased from its website.

The listing of Social Security numbers may be connected to the identity theft of Samantha Thomas, who died from sudden infant death syndrome in 2010, NBC4 in Columbus, Ohio reported online Thursday. Thomas' parents discovered that someone was using their deceased daughter's Social Security number on tax forms, falsely listing her as a dependent.

The listing of Social Security numbers on a part of Ancestry.com is "a way for criminals to get information fast," the article said. Ancestry.com confirmed to NBC4 that it was responding to the issue. NBC4 contacted Ancestry.com about the issue in May as part of its reporting of an earlier story about the misuse of Thomas' Social Security number.

GenealogyBank.com, another genealogy site, also agreed to stop posting such information, the article said.

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