600,000 More Social Security Numbers Compromised

DoubleWhopper writes "This time it's Time Warner Inc. According to this CNN article, an 'outside storage company' is to blame for the latest significant loss of personal information. From the article: '...the tapes contained names and Social Security information on current and former Time Warner employees and some of their dependents and beneficiaries dating back to 1986.' Fortunately, the tapes are said to have no customer information, at least."

Comments

Re:Alway's Compromised

[real gumby]

I'm forced to give it to a $8/hr customer service person over the phone to get my Cable, Internet, Telephone, Gas, Electricity services, rent a car, get a loan, get a bank account, apply for a job.

For most of those cases you can get away without doing this. When people ask for my SSN I just tell 'em "I'm a foreigner" and they just assume that that means "....and so I don't have one." And since they generally do want to do business with me, they find a way around the problem.

The really really nice thing about this is that the poor clerk taking my order doesn't need to get harshed about SSN politics, or even have to listen to a pointless rant. They just cast about and figure a way around the problem -- perfect! In fact they don't even see it as me causing a problem. It's just some faceless bureaucratic hassle that both of us are dealing with.

(As it turns out I am a foreigner, but telling people that is about as useful as telling 'em "I have brown hair" since most foreigners in the USA for more than a brief holiday end up needing an SSN anyway. But most people don't realise that).