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Congress To Restrict Social Security Number Use
diverge_s writes "News.com.com has an article detailing a long overdue attempt Congress is making to restrict the use of Social Security Numbers. From the article: 'In both the House and the Senate, there are at least three pieces of pending legislation that propose different approaches to restricting the use and sale of SSNs. Politicians have expressed astonishment at what they see as a rising identity fraud problem, frequently pointing to a 2003 Federal Trade Commission survey that estimated nearly 10 million consumers are hit by such intrusions each year.'"
078-05-1120
It's a specimen number from the Eisenhower era. No need to give ur correct number to the cable or phone company. They don't need it. Period. Of course it's possible that someone else has used this number already, especialy if you live near me in upstate NY.
Otherwise use the "Fletch" approach on things like your customer loyalty cards. I keep mine under Harry S Truman, Ted Nugent and John Cocktosen. I have started using Igor Stravinsky lately.
...right on the card. Just what is there about "Not for purposes of identification" that is hard for officials to understand?
Of course, when I was in the hospital emergency room and I said I didn't want to give them my social security number, they said they would treat me until I did. I backed down.
When I contacted the social security administration about this, and said "Am I required to give anybody but the government my SSN," their rather unhelpful reply was "No, you're not required to, but the hospital is not required to treat you without it."
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Exactly. It shouldn't matter if I know your SSN. There should be a private key part of the equation required for a transaction that requires an SSN to take place. This token should be a pass phrase, not just a password or PIN. Verification can be done electronically by the Social Security Administration.
For example, if I sign up for a credit card, the application would not be processed until I give my valid pass phrase and it was verified. This way, someone could find out my SSN, date of birth, Mother's maiden name, shoe size, or whatever else, but could not do anything with it without knowing my pass phrase. Credit cards themselves should at least require a PIN to complete a transaction. This could be done without a major overhaul of the financial network -- the ISO 8583 specs supports PINs.
You could support several pass-phrases. One pass phrase would be for applying for credit and such, giving a Bank or Credit institution this pass phrase would allow them to not only access your credit report, but would give them authorization to update it as they do today. A second pass phrase could be given to just allow read access to a credit report. This could be used for your own access, access by landlords, or any other situation where you need to give out that information without giving the ability to update it. One time use read pass phrases could even be supported. Pass phrases could be changed by visiting the Social Security Office or online. Any forgotten pass phrases would require a visit to the Social Security Office.
A system like this would massively cut down on fraud and identity theft without too massive of a change to the current system flow.
Beware of Sleestak
Um- do we really need legislation to restrict use of SSNs? I thought that the law already said that SSNs are only for, well, social security... Why dont we enforce laws before making up new ones?
I went to a state University for 2 years before transferring to a private one. At the state school everything was all about the SSN. One every test, you had to put your SSN...
And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
They just don't care because the current system minimizes their financial losses by transfering those losses to the individual who has his/her identity "stolen".
Making any changes would cost money which reduces profits.
Any changes that improved the situation could be used to find them responsible when/if their new system is defrauded.
So, fixing the system is, from the individual company's point of view, all loss and no gain.
Now, in order to claim your children on taxes, you have to get them a social security number.
Not only that, but with my youngest kids, the paperwork to request and issue an SSN was processed by the hospital. We were told that if we didn't sign the request form, we wouldn't be allowed to take our child home. I didn't buy that, of course, but signed the form because I knew we'd need the number anyway. I'm sure that if you forced the issue, you could take your baby home without getting an SSN, but I doubt anyone does.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
At the state school everything was all about the SSN. One every test, you had to put your SSN...
In the early 1990s a group of students took Rutgers to court regarding SSN use as the student identifier. They won in federal court, and that case was considered precedence in this field. (Not to mention kinna cool because it was just a bunch of students going at the university pro se.)
That case specifically enumerated
*prohibitions using all or part of the SSN as an identifier on tests or assignments
*prohibitions using all or part of the SSN as an identifier en masse (such as posting grades by last four digits)
*prohibitions regarding using all or part of the SSN as an identifier on student ID cards
Universities damn well know of the Krebs v. Rutgers prohibitions but they have taken their time in implimenting them. Hell, even my university broke/still breaks the Privacy Act of 1974, by not disclosing how the SSN will be used and if its necessary to disclose, when applying for admission.
For example, if I sign up for a credit card, the application would not be processed until I give my valid pass phrase and it was verified.
This isn't going to help, what if the institution records it? Sooner or later they will. Oh yea, pass a law... that is useless too as we can't enforce the laws we already have.
The real issue is the lending institutions business practices of NOT practicing due diligence in maters of credit. That's right, they are just too damn lazy to verify who you are. They have been known to hire ex-cons to process credit card applications!!! Personnally, I don't care if they are careless, I do however care about the grief it causes people.
The real solution is to make it easy for those that get grief from poor and lax credit to recover damages and get their records corrected quickly. I would propose:
And enforce the above vigoriously. Make the lenders so scared and costly to get it wrong they will clean up their act. Maybe we have to go the bank where we meet a real person that will check our ID and knows we have deposits. But a small price to pay. And apply at the bank, not through Joe's Con Credit card processing service.
One last item, a forced labor camp where if convicted of fraud, you have to work to pay off all damages to get free. In essence, those that knowingly choose a life of fraud become indentured slaves to society.