Hackers claimed to have stolen more than 2 billion records containing sensitive information including Social Security numbers, with some data reportedly leaked online.
Yet pretty much everyone uses it for identification:
apply for a credit card - SSN
apply for a bank account - SSN
apply for a job - SSN
get a mortgage - SSN
Basically, any time an org needs to prove you are who you say you are, they’ll ask for state-issued ID and your SSN. Every time. Sometimes they’ll even want a copy of your SSN card, which is extremely stupid.
The SSN should only be used for SS benefits. If we want a federal ID, we should make a federal ID system based on challenge/response.
I’m up in Canada and we have the same problem with SSN … as a kid one of my uncles told me that the SSN is only for government use and nothing else … he explained that even banks shouldn’t ask for it as it is not required. He helped me set up my first bank account when I was 15 and he insisted and fought with the bank branch that SSN were not required. After a bit of back and forth, they finally agreed and I got my first bank account … which I’ve kept ever since over 30 years ago. And in all that time, I’ve protected my SSN from banks and credit services. Because I was able to start that first account, I could start new ones and grow from there.
Best part was … about ten years after that, I got my first Credit Card and the form the bank gave asked me to verify my information … INCLUDING MY FULL SSN WHICH THEY HAD IN THEIR RECORDS.
The privacy and security of these dumb SSN cards and numbers is a joke.
Yet pretty much everyone uses it for identification:
Basically, any time an org needs to prove you are who you say you are, they’ll ask for state-issued ID and your SSN. Every time. Sometimes they’ll even want a copy of your SSN card, which is extremely stupid.
The SSN should only be used for SS benefits. If we want a federal ID, we should make a federal ID system based on challenge/response.
I’m up in Canada and we have the same problem with SSN … as a kid one of my uncles told me that the SSN is only for government use and nothing else … he explained that even banks shouldn’t ask for it as it is not required. He helped me set up my first bank account when I was 15 and he insisted and fought with the bank branch that SSN were not required. After a bit of back and forth, they finally agreed and I got my first bank account … which I’ve kept ever since over 30 years ago. And in all that time, I’ve protected my SSN from banks and credit services. Because I was able to start that first account, I could start new ones and grow from there.
Best part was … about ten years after that, I got my first Credit Card and the form the bank gave asked me to verify my information … INCLUDING MY FULL SSN WHICH THEY HAD IN THEIR RECORDS.
The privacy and security of these dumb SSN cards and numbers is a joke.