SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

Social Security number and Health problems

Social Security number and Health problems

In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 405(c)(2). The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent agency of the United States government.

Its primary purpose is to track individuals for taxation purposes. In recent years the SSN has become a de facto national identification number. A social security number may be obtained by applying on Form SS-5, "Application for A Social Security Number Card.

Use of SSNs by the private sector has not to date been prohibited by law. As a result, SSNs are used as identification and account numbers by many entities, including insurance companies, universities, cable television companies, the military, banks, and brokerage firms. In about a dozen states, the SSN is used as the driver's license number.

Identity thieves obtain Social Security numbers by stealing mail, seeking documents that contain account numbers and Social Security numbers. They sift through the trash outside of businesses and residences to find unshredded documents containing identifying information. Dishonest employees can obtain the numbers in the workplace by obtaining access to personnel files or using credit reporting databases, commonly available in auto dealerships, realtors' offices, banks, and other businesses that approve loans.

A significant percent of identity theft cases—one in eight, according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) statistics—are perpetrated by family members, relatives, friends, roommates, home health-care providers, and others who have easy access to their victims' SSNs. Wallet theft is another common source of identifying information. Increasingly, thieves obtain SSNs from the Web sites of information brokers who sell “credit headers.” The headers, sold by credit bureaus to information brokers, include the identification portion of the credit report: name, current and past addresses, phone number, year and month of birth, and SSN. At this writing, Congress has not been able to pass legislation to prohibit the commercial sale of SSNs, primarily because of opposition from those who sell and use credit headers—information brokers, the credit industry, and private investigators.

Credit issuer practices also facilitate identity theft. In this highly competitive industry, zeal to attract new customers often contributes to lax application verification procedures, especially in instant credit situations. Another reason identity theft is skyrocketing is that most law enforcement agencies ...