I have a similar story. I wanted to get a copy of my birth certificate sent to me. In order to do so, I had to answer some security questions, which were apparently drawn from public records.
E.g.: "what was the name of the person you bought your house from?"
Really? Not only was that transaction about 15 years earlier, but I never even met the people. They moved out of town long before their house sold. Who the fuck cares what their names were?!?! Nowadays all that stuff is done through real estate agents and title companies.
So, while filling out an online form, I'm supposed to go rummaging through 15 year old records to find the names? And what if I stored those papers offline for safekeeping (e.g. at a bank)? How long will the question on the screen remain active before it times out?
There has to be a better way of doing these things.
I ultimately ended up calling Principal. The person on the phone asked some silly questions too, but at least she let me pass on a couple. She then reset my account and sent a link to reset my password. That wouldn't be so easy with all sites, since they don't all have reachable humans.
E.g.: "what was the name of the person you bought your house from?"
Really? Not only was that transaction about 15 years earlier, but I never even met the people. They moved out of town long before their house sold. Who the fuck cares what their names were?!?! Nowadays all that stuff is done through real estate agents and title companies.
So, while filling out an online form, I'm supposed to go rummaging through 15 year old records to find the names? And what if I stored those papers offline for safekeeping (e.g. at a bank)? How long will the question on the screen remain active before it times out?
There has to be a better way of doing these things.