| == Phrack Inc. == | |
| Volume Three, Issue Thirty-five, File 6 of 13 | |
| ***** Social Security Numbers & Privacy ***** | |
| *** *** | |
| * b y C h r i s H i b b e r t * | |
| *** *** | |
| ***** June 1, 1991 ***** | |
| Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility | |
| Many people are concerned about the number of organizations asking for their | |
| Social Security Numbers. They worry about invasions of privacy and the | |
| oppressive feeling of being treated as just a number. | |
| Unfortunately, I can't offer any hope about the dehumanizing effects of | |
| identifying you with your numbers. I *can* try to help you keep your Social | |
| Security Number from being used as a tool in the invasion of your privacy. | |
| Surprisingly, government agencies are reasonably easy to deal with; private | |
| organizations are much more troublesome. Federal law restricts the agencies at | |
| all levels of government that can demand your number and a fairly complete | |
| disclosure is required even if its use is voluntary. There are no comparable | |
| laws restricting the uses non-government organizations can make of it, or | |
| compelling them to tell you anything about their plans. With private | |
| institutions, your main recourse is refusing to do business with anyone whose | |
| terms you don't like. | |
| ********************* | |
| *** *** | |
| *** Short History *** | |
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| ********************* | |
| Social Security numbers were introduced by the Social Security Act of 1935. | |
| They were originally intended to be used only by the social security program, | |
| and public assurances were given at the time that use would be strictly | |
| limited. In 1943 Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9397 which required federal | |
| agencies to use the number when creating new record-keeping systems. In 1961 | |
| the IRS began to use it as a taxpayer ID number. The Privacy Act of 1974 | |
| required authorization for government agencies to use SSNs in their data bases | |
| and required disclosures (detailed below) when government agencies request the | |
| number. Agencies which were already using SSN as an identifier were allowed to | |
| continue using it. The Tax Reform Act of 1976 gave authority to state or local | |
| tax, welfare, driver's license, or motor vehicle registration authorities to | |
| use the number in order to establish identities. The Privacy Protection Study | |
| Commission of 1977 recommended that the Executive Order be repealed after some | |
| agencies referred to it as their authorization to use SSNs. I don't know | |
| whether it was repealed, but that practice has stopped. | |
| The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC 552a) requires that any federal, state, or local | |
| government agency that requests your Social Security Number has to tell you | |
| three things: | |
| 1. Whether disclosure of your Social Security Number is required or | |
| optional; | |
| 2. What law authorizes them to ask for your Social Security Number; and, | |
| 3. How your Social Security Number will be used if you give it to them. | |
| In addition, the Act says that only Federal law can make use of the Social | |
| Security Number mandatory. So anytime you're dealing with a government | |
| institution and you're asked for your Social Security Number, just look for the | |
| Privacy Act Statement. If there isn't one, complain and don't give your | |
| number. If the statement is present, read it. If it says giving your Social | |
| Security Number is voluntary, you'll have to decide for yourself whether to | |
| fill in the number. | |
| ***************************** | |
| *** *** | |
| *** Private Organizations *** | |
| *** *** | |
| ***************************** | |
| The guidelines for dealing with non-governmental institutions are much more | |
| tenuous. Most of the time private organizations that request your Social | |
| Security Number can get by quite well without your number, and if you can find | |
| the right person to negotiate with, they'll willingly admit it. The problem is | |
| finding that right person. The person behind the counter is often told no more | |
| than "get the customers to fill out the form completely." | |
| Most of the time, you can convince them to use some other number. Usually the | |
| simplest way to refuse to give your Social Security Number is simply to leave | |
| the appropriate space blank. One of the times when this isn't a strong enough | |
| statement of your desire to conceal your number is when dealing with | |
| institutions which have direct contact with your employer. Most employers have | |
| no policy against revealing your Social Security Number; they apparently | |
| believe the omission must have been an unintentional slip. | |
| ***************************** | |
| *** *** | |
| *** Lenders and Borrowers *** | |
| *** *** | |
| ***************************** | |
| Banks and credit card issuers are required by the IRS to report the SSNs of | |
| account holders to whom they pay interest or when they charge interest and | |
| report it to the IRS. If you don't tell them your number you will probably | |
| either be refused an account or be charged a penalty such as withholding of | |
| taxes on your interest. | |
| ************************************ | |
| *** *** | |
| *** Insurers, Hospitals, Doctors *** | |
| *** *** | |
| ************************************ | |
| No laws require medical service providers to use your Social Security Number as | |
| an ID number (except for Medicare, Medicaid, etc). They often use it because | |
| it's convenient or because your employer uses it to certify employees to its | |
| groups health plan. In the latter case, you have to get your employer to | |
| change their policies. Often, the people who work in personnel assume that the | |
| employer or insurance company requires use of the SSN when that's not really | |
| the case. When my current employer asked for my SSN for an insurance form, I | |
| asked them to try to find out if they had to use it. After a week they | |
| reported that the insurance company had gone along with my request and told me | |
| what number to use. Blood banks also ask for the number but are willing to do | |
| without if pressed on the issue. After I asked politely and persistently, the | |
| blood bank I go to agreed that they didn't have any use for the number, and is | |
| in the process of teaching their receptionists not to request the number. | |
| ************************************************************ | |
| *** *** | |
| *** Why Is The Use of Social Security Numbers A Problem? *** | |
| *** *** | |
| ************************************************************ | |
| The Social Security Number doesn't work well as an identifier for several | |
| reasons. The first reason is that it isn't at all secure; if someone makes up | |
| a nine-digit number, it's quite likely that they've picked a number that is | |
| assigned to someone. There are quite a few reasons why people would make up a | |
| number: to hide their identity or the fact that they're doing something; | |
| because they're not allowed to have a number of their own (illegal immigrants, | |
| e.g.), or to protect their privacy. In addition, it's easy to write the number | |
| down wrong, which can lead to the same problems as intentionally giving a false | |
| number. There are several numbers that have been used by thousands of people | |
| because they were on sample cards shipped in wallets by their manufacturers | |
| (one is included below). | |
| When more than one person uses the same number, it clouds up the records. If | |
| someone intended to hide their activities, it's likely that it'll look bad on | |
| whichever record it shows up on. When it happens accidently, it can be | |
| unexpected, embarrassing, or worse. How do you prove that you weren't the one | |
| using your number when the record was made? | |
| A second problem with the use of SSNs as identifiers is that it makes it hard | |
| to control access to personal information. Even assuming you want someone to | |
| be able to find out some things about you, there's no reason to believe that | |
| you want to make all records concerning yourself available. When multiple | |
| record systems are all keyed by the same identifier, and all are intended to be | |
| easily accessible to some users, it becomes difficult to allow someone access | |
| to some of the information about a person while restricting them to specific | |
| topics. | |
| *********************************************** | |
| *** *** | |
| *** What Can You Do To Protect Your Number? *** | |
| *** *** | |
| *********************************************** | |
| If despite your having written "refused" in the box for Social Security Number, | |
| it still shows up on the forms someone sends back to you (or worse, on the ID | |
| card they issue), your recourse is to write letters or make phone calls. Start | |
| politely, explaining your position and expecting them to understand and | |
| cooperate. If that doesn't work, there are several more things to try: | |
| 1. Talk to people higher up in the organization. This often works simply | |
| because the organization has a standard way of dealing with requests | |
| not to use the SSN, and the first person you deal with just hasn't | |
| been around long enough to know what it is. | |
| 2. Enlist the aid of your employer. You have to decide whether talking | |
| to someone in personnel, and possibly trying to change corporate | |
| policy is going to get back to your supervisor and affect your job. | |
| 3. Threaten to complain to a consumer affairs bureau. Most newspapers | |
| can get a quick response. Some cities, counties, and states also have | |
| programs that might be able to help. | |
| 4. Tell them you'll take your business elsewhere (and follow through if | |
| they don't cooperate). | |
| 5. If it's a case where you've gotten service already, but someone | |
| insists that you have to provide your number in order to have a | |
| continuing relationship, you can choose to ignore the request in hopes | |
| that they'll forget or find another solution before you get tired of | |
| the interruption. | |
| If someone absolutely insists on getting your Social Security Number, you may | |
| want to give a fake number. There is no legal penalty as long as you're not | |
| doing it to get something from a government agency or to commit fraud. There | |
| are a few good choices for "anonymous" numbers. Making one up at random is a | |
| bad idea, as it may coincide with someone's real number and cause them some | |
| amount of grief. It's better to use a number like 078-05-1120, which was | |
| printed on "sample" cards inserted in thousands of new wallets sold in the 40s | |
| and 50s. It's been used so widely that both the IRS and SSA recognize it | |
| immediately as bogus, while most clerks haven't heard of it. It's also safe to | |
| invent a number that has only zeros in one of the fields. The Social Security | |
| Administration never issues numbers with this pattern. They also recommend | |
| that people showing Social Security cards in advertisements use numbers in the | |
| range 987-65-4320 through 987-65-4329. | |
| The Social Security Administration recommends that you request a copy of your | |
| file from them every few years to make sure that your records are correct. | |
| *************** | |
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| *** THE END *** | |
| *** *** | |
| *************** | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |