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US Studying Ways To End Use of Social Security Numbers For ID (securityweek.com)
wiredmikey quotes a report from Security Week: U.S. officials are studying ways to end the use of social security numbers for identification following a series of data breaches compromising the data for millions of Americans, Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity coordinator, said Tuesday. Joyce told a forum at the Washington Post that officials were studying ways to use "modern cryptographic identifiers" to replace social security numbers. "I feel very strongly that the social security number has outlived its usefulness," Joyce said. "It's a flawed system." For years, social security numbers have been used by Americans to open bank accounts or establish their identity when applying for credit. But stolen social security numbers can be used by criminals to open bogus accounts or for other types of identity theft. Joyce said the administration has asked officials from several agencies to come up with ideas for "a better system" which may involve cryptography. This may involve "a public and private key" including "something that could be revoked if it has been compromised," Joyce added.
About friggin' time! I've been doing my best to avoid giving out my SSN where it's not required by law since the '80s.
One big hole that has been going on for decades is Medicare:
* Once you're old enough to be on it, you can't get regular health insurance to pay for the portion of your medical work (often all or the bulk of the cost) that Medicare pays for. Regular health plans turn into cover-the-difference supplements. You must sign up for Medicare or pay the charges yourself. (And if you don't have the government imposing price levels or the insurance companies negotiating deep discounts you get to pay the drastically inflated "regular price" that makes up for their discounts.)
* But if you DO sign up for Medicare, what do you get for an ID? Your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER with a single letter appended after it. They won't provide any alternative (though they have "been thinking about it" for years). You have to give this to ALL your medical providers. Get a prescription or an immunization at a pharmacy, hand in your Medicare ID. Go to a doctor, hand in your Medicare ID. Get a lab test, hand in your Medicare ID. Go to a specialist, hand in your Medicare ID.
Dozens, or even hundreds, of medical billing paperwork operations, with unknown numbers of clerks doing data entry (often offshore) and unknown competency of IT people configuring their databases, get your name and SS#. Some have even been CAUGHT selling them. Oops!
* So then we get stories about how people over 65 have a much higher rate of identity theft - typically trying to imply that these oldsters are lax in guarding their SS numbers. Well, DUH!
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
US Studying Ways To End Use of Social Security Numbers For ID
Am I the only one who's immediate reaction to that is "Well, no shit, Sherlock".
"If a SSN is not linked to healthcare, what is its use really??"
Uh, Social Security (AKA OASDI). Duh.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law