Help me save my Social Security number

[J]

I will pray for your social security number, and perhaps god will find it within him to save it from the clutches of the devil. Hallelujah!

[Avalon616]

In Iowa, the Social Security number used to be the DRIVERS LICENSE NUMBER.

Of course that has been changed now, they edit out the middle numbers last I saw, but you can still get a good chunk of someones number like that.

Massachusetts used to be like that too, but now they assign a completely random code of mixed numbers and one letter... if you choose it. So some people, not realizing why it might be bad to have their social on their liscense, just keep that for ease. Also, anyone with an older license still has their SSN on it, and might not know they can change that when they renew theirs.

I work in a bank, and we get pages of identity theft alerts and fraud alerts every day- and that's only for Massachusetts. It's insane how much identity theft goes on around here.
As for dealing with identity theft, going to your banks customer service rep might help, but they will only step you through the same steps the websites previously given will. But if you feel unsure how to do it, or are just freaking out, most banks will be more than happy to help you out.

Unless you go to Fleet/Bank of America. They charge you fees if you have problems or use a teller.

[CelesKnight]

so you have to give out your ss for lots of stuff. why is it so problematic then if it´s stolen? i mean all the people who do the paper work for the interactions that require the ss have it anyway.

Although your SS number is easily available to a lot of goverment, corporate, and school officals, they aren't trying to steal your identity. The problem comes when someone has your SS number, birthdate, address, and other such information, and they use it do do things in your name. With that information, they can take out loans, get a job[1], commit minor crimes[2] and as far as The System is concerned, you were the one that did it.

[1] The IRS would come after you for the taxes that they think you earned at the job. Along with fees for not reporting the income.
[2] I read an article yesterday about someone whose identity was stolen, the perp was ticketed for some minor, unrelated offense and gave the cops the stolen identify. Of course, the perp didn't show up for his court date, so an arrest warrent was issued for the identity theft victum.

Moreover, even though identify theft is fairly well-known, it doesn't seem like many places take it into consideration. SS numbers are still widely used by insurance companies, government offices, schools, and corporate HR people, when those places don't need your SS number. And even if you report your identify as stolen, not all places check. And if a criminal does something in your name, it seems like the burdon of proof is on you to prove that you didn't do it.

All in all, it's a mess, and I hope that none of us ever have to deal with it.


BTW, my college was slowly in the process from switching from SS numbers to a new school ID number. However, in one class at school, we had to use a system that used your school ID, SS number, AND a password to log in. The informaton was not encrypted. And the only think that the system was used for was to get homework assignments from and to submit finished homework to. What fucking clusterf%*$ *$*%*@9 (^%*#(

[CelesKnight]

I've been wondering about what would be the ideal identify number. Does anyone have any thoughts?


Here is what I think we need in an identity number:
1) Something that uniquely identifies each person
2) The number can never change (because then company and government records have to be updated)
3) The number must be able to be changed (in case your identify is stolen).
4) You must be able to freely give the number out.
5) It must be secret enough that when you give it so someone, that person knows that it is from you.
6) It must be a number or string (so that it can be written down, given out over the phone, used as a field in databases, etc).
7) It must be backwards compatible with existing systems, forms, etc.

Of course, the above goals are self-contradictory. And no one number can satisfy all of them.

Here is what I was thinking: Your existing 9 digit SS number becomes your unique identification number. This will never change, and you can freely give it out because, by itself, it means nothing. (This satisfies requirements 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7).

In addition, everyone has a 3 digit "card number" that you also give out. This number would never be written down--it would immediately be transmitted to some government computer network to be verified. Once verified, the company or government office would use your normal 9 digit number. If your identify is ever stolen, the government simply cancels the three digit number and issues a new one. Since the three digit number has to be transmitted and checked every time it's used, the identify theft stops the instant it's reported. (This satisfies criteria 3 and 5).

I could also envision there being three different card numbers. For routine tasks (like renting a movie) you give our the 9 digit ID number, plus the 3 digit card number. For more rare tasks (applying for a job or credit, withdrawing money from a bank, paying taxes, etc) you give the 9 digit number, the three digit number, and a second three digit number. Finally, if you think your identify has been stolen, and you need to contact the government to change it, you given then the 9 digit number, the first three digit number, the second three digit number, and a third three digit number. The reason for having the first two three digit numbers is so that you can use your ID number and first three digit number for anything at all, without worrying that the person you're giving it to is going to steal your identity (because they would need both the first and second digit number to cause any serious problems). The reason for the third three digit number is that so that since you're not going to use it very often, you can keep it in a safe or safety deposit box where a thief is less likely you get it.

On last thing, in theory, when someone is verifying the card number, the government computer network could return your home phone number and a picture. That would let the company compare you to the photo (if you're applying in person) and do a follow up call. "Hey did you really apply for a credit card yesterday?"

BTW, I've thought of ways to handle filling out paper forms, mailing in forms, the fact that we're running out of 9 digit SS numbers, etc, but this post is getting a bit long as it is, so I left those out. However, if anyone actually cares, I can post those as well.

Any thoughts on this? I admit that I've probably overlooked some things, and there could be better ways of doing it. However, I haven't seen many other plans for improving the current system.

Edit: BTW, my purpose in writing this is not to suggest that this is The Way It Must be Done (TM). Rather, I merely want to point out that there are better ways to handle identification, and to get people thinking about what those ways could be.