I needed to check my Social Security earnings record online and ran into something I wasn't prepared for: every time I tried to log into ssa.gov, I was redirected to ID.me for identity verification, completed the verification process, and was then redirected right back to the ssa.gov login page — where the cycle started over. I never actually got into my SSA account.
I went through this loop six times in a single session before I stopped and started researching what was actually happening. What I found is that this isn't a random glitch — it's a specific technical conflict between SSA's session management system and ID.me's verification callback process, and it has a targeted fix that takes about five minutes once you know what to do.
What's Actually Happening in the Loop
When you log into ssa.gov through ID.me, the process works in three steps: SSA sends you to ID.me for authentication, ID.me verifies your identity and issues a token, then ID.me sends you back to SSA with that token so SSA can create your session.
The loop occurs when SSA's session management system fails to accept ID.me's callback token. This happens for one of three specific reasons:
Reason 1 — A stale SSA session cookie is blocking the new session If you previously visited ssa.gov or my.ssa.gov in the same browser session — even just the login page — SSA has already created a partial session in your browser. When ID.me tries to return you to SSA with a new authentication token, SSA's system detects the existing partial session and gets confused about which session to honor. The result is a redirect loop because SSA keeps trying to re-authenticate rather than accepting the ID.me token.
Reason 2 — ID.me's cookie from a previous login hasn't expired ID.me stores a session cookie in your browser that persists for up to 30 days. If you previously authenticated with ID.me using a different email or a different account, that old cookie is still present. When SSA sends you to ID.me, ID.me sees the existing cookie and tries to use the old session — but the old session doesn't match your current SSA account, so the callback fails and you're sent back to start again.
Reason 3 — Browser security settings are blocking the cross-site redirect SSA and ID.me are separate domains. When ID.me redirects you back to SSA, it passes your authentication token as part of that redirect. Some browser configurations — particularly Chrome's third-party cookie restrictions and Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention — block this cross-site data passing, which means the token never arrives at SSA and the authentication fails silently.
The Exact Fix — Clear Both SSA and ID.me Cookies Specifically
The fix is not a general browser cache clear. Clearing your entire cache wipes more than necessary and takes longer than needed. The targeted fix is to clear cookies specifically for ssa.gov and id.me — the two domains involved in the loop.
In Chrome:
Click the lock icon (or the information icon) in the address bar while on ssa.gov > "Cookies and site data" > click on "ssa.gov" in the list > "Remove" > then do the same for "my.ssa.gov" if it appears.
Then navigate to id.me in your browser, click the lock icon > "Cookies and site data" > remove all id.me cookies.
Close the browser tab completely (don't just navigate away) and open a fresh tab. Go to ssa.gov and attempt login again.
In Safari:
Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data > search for "ssa.gov" > Remove > then search for "id.me" > Remove. Close and reopen Safari, then attempt login.
In Firefox:
Click the shield icon in the address bar on ssa.gov > click "Connection secure" > "More information" > "View cookies" > remove all ssa.gov cookies. Repeat for id.me. Then restart Firefox.
If Clearing Cookies Doesn't Stop the Loop
If you clear the cookies correctly and still get the loop on the next attempt, Reason 3 — the cross-site redirect being blocked — is the cause.
Switch to a different browser for SSA.gov specifically.
Chrome with third-party cookie restrictions enabled in newer versions, and Safari with ITP enabled, both have settings that can block the SSA-to-ID.me-to-SSA redirect chain. Firefox in standard mode handles this redirect most reliably in my experience — the Mozilla foundation's tracking protection is less aggressive about blocking government identity callbacks than Apple's or Google's implementations.
If you don't want to install Firefox, try Chrome in Incognito mode. Incognito disables extensions and starts with no cookies, which removes both Reason 1 (stale SSA cookie) and Reason 3 (extension-based cookie blocking) simultaneously. If it works in Incognito but not your regular Chrome window, a Chrome extension — most likely an ad blocker or a privacy extension — is intercepting the redirect.
The Specific Extension That Most Often Causes This
If you use uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, or Ghostery in Chrome or Firefox, one of these is very likely blocking the ID.me callback redirect.
The fastest test: go to your browser's extension manager and disable every extension. Attempt the SSA login. If it works, re-enable extensions one at a time until the loop returns — that last extension you enabled is the one blocking the redirect.
In my case, it was Privacy Badger. It had learned to block id.me's cross-site tracking cookie (which it correctly identified as a tracker in other contexts) and applied that block to the SSA authentication callback — which is not tracking in the normal sense but uses the same technical mechanism.
The fix: open Privacy Badger (or whichever extension is blocking it) and add id.me and ssa.gov to its whitelist or allowlist. In Privacy Badger specifically: click the extension icon > "Disable Privacy Badger for this site" while on ssa.gov, then do the same while on id.me. This allows the authentication redirect to pass through without disabling the extension for your entire browser.
Creating a my Social Security Account for the First Time
If you're trying to create a new my Social Security account and getting stuck before you even reach the login loop, the process changed significantly in 2023. SSA no longer accepts direct account creation on ssa.gov — you must create an account through ID.me first, then link it to SSA.
Go to secure.ssa.gov/RIL/SiView.action and select "Sign in with ID.me." If you don't have an ID.me account, select "Create an account" on the ID.me page. ID.me requires identity verification — typically through a government-issued photo ID and a selfie — which can be done through the ID.me app or through a video call with an ID.me agent if the automated verification fails.
After your ID.me account is verified and linked to SSA, every future login to ssa.gov goes through ID.me automatically. The loop described above can still occur after account creation — clear the specific cookies as described if it does.
Pro Tip: Bookmark the Direct SSA Login URL, Not the ssa.gov Homepage
The ssa.gov homepage loads marketing content and multiple navigation options before presenting the login button. If you bookmark the homepage and navigate to it through a saved bookmark, you occasionally land on a version of the page with a cached session state that contributes to the loop.
The direct login URL for my Social Security is: secure.ssa.gov/RIL/SiView.action
Bookmarking this specific URL instead of the homepage bypasses the homepage session state entirely and takes you directly to the ID.me authentication handshake — which reduces the chance of a stale session interfering with the redirect. I made this change after my loop experience and have not encountered the redirect loop since.
It's a minor change that removes one variable from a process that has too many variables. For something as important as your Social Security account, removing every unnecessary friction point is worth the 10 seconds it takes to update your bookmark.
Last updated: July 2026. SSA's login process and ID.me's verification flow are updated periodically. If these steps do not resolve the issue, contact SSA directly at 1-800-772-1213 or visit your local Social Security office — in-person identity verification remains available as an alternative to ID.me for those who cannot complete the online process.
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