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Why Google Wants Your Kid's SSN

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the hello-toby-from-madison dept.

Jamie found a somewhat creepy story about a kid's art contest run by Google. As part of the entry, they need the last 4 digits of a social security number. The article suggests that the information requested by the contest should make it possible to guess at, and compile a list of children's social security numbers. It's bizarre and worth your read.

6 of 391 comments (clear)

  1. It's ridiculous that SSNs should be sensitive info by water-vole · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The problem isn't with google for collecting social security numbers. The problem is that SSNs are so sensitive in the US. I live in Sweden and here social security numbers are a matter of public record and many companies collect these numbers from their customers for their databases. It's quite convenient and, if done right, not as privacy infringing as people seem to think. It's quite ridiculous to have, like the US, a system where you can impersonate someone by knowing their number.

  2. Re:It's ridiculous that SSNs should be sensitive i by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't know how the US got this meme that knowing your SSN somehow proved your identity. Of course once that meme has developed and companies start using the SSN as a password, people become very protective of their SSNs, and the idea that it's a special number that requires protection becomes self-reinforcing.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  3. Re:Oh No! by boarder8925 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And yet the government, banks, corporations, etc. all require you to provide it because they assume it to be secure. Or rather, because they convince us SSNs are secure, all while knowing they're not.

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    Keep your eyes to the sky.
  4. Another conspiracy blog on Slashdot by Posting=!Working · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist by disposition, but doesn't "these last 4 digits were not entered into our records and will be safely discarded," sound like a contradiction? (How can they delete something that is not in their records?)

    It's not a contradiction to anyone who can understand the word "discarded" in relation to paper forms does not mean deletion of a file on a computer.

    Also, this article was written 4 days AFTER Google had already changed the form to not have the SSN. This is even mentioned in the article body.

    Yeah, I know it's on Huffington, but that crap doesn't qualify as a news article. Calling it a blog is doing it a favor, calling it a lunatic rant about a problem that's already taken care of would be more accurate.

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    This sentence no verb.
  5. Wow, this guy is over the top. by HeckRuler · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I mean, I understand the driving force behind a demographic's distrust of Google. They're a giant corporate information broker that lures people to simply hand over their data by providing free services. In certain distopian future sci-fi novels, that would be a nifty plot.

    But I can literally taste the tin foil on this guy's head. The little nutter gave me synesthesia. I think Its mostly his tone of voice. The way he's simply incredulous about the possibilities, with nothing to show for it.

    1.) I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist by disposition, but...

    Hey, I think I spotted where he became a conspiracy nutcase.

    Are these posts here to show us how evil Google has become to to show us how nutty the "google is evil" crowd has become? Because despite the title, I'm leaning with the latter.

  6. Re:Do no Evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some mid-level employee came up with a clever but ultimately bad way of distinguishing applications. Conspiracy theory: ignored.