slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (05/09/85)
Just a short question--please no flames as this is just a
question, and not a criticism.
What do you think will happen to you that is bad if someone
knows your social security number? I can see the value of
keeping a credit card number secret as some stranger can
order 10,000 Mr. Microphones with your number. But I cannot
think of any nasty thing that anyone can do to me with my
SSN--assuming of course that I am an honest taxpaying citizen.
If there is something I am missing here, I would like to know,
so I too can refuse.
--
Sue Brezden
Real World: Room 1B17 Net World: ihnp4!drutx!slb
AT&T Information Systems
11900 North Pecos
Westminster, Co. 80234
(303)538-3829
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Honk if you love Shiva!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~stanwyck@ihlpa.UUCP (Don Stanwyck) (05/10/85)
> What do you think will happen to you that is bad if someone > knows your social security number? ..... > ..... But I cannot > think of any nasty thing that anyone can do to me with my > SSN--assuming of course that I am an honest taxpaying citizen. > Sue Brezden As one who has never been particularly sensitive about giving out my SSN, I understand Sue's query. However, I am beginning to get increasingly sensitive. It is not so much that I fear anyone getting dirt on me (is there anything bad to learn about me??) but rather that there are people getting information about me that they have no need to know. I am transferring in 2 weeks to the Westminster, CO ATT-IS plant. I have bought a home in Lafayette, CO. I called Mountain Bell and Illinois Bell both yesterday. (One for disconnect order, the other for connect and getting my new number). Both wanted my SSN. Why, I asked? Well, they tell me that it is how they verify that you are you. If you want to discuss your account with them, they want to have your SSN so that they feel they have adaquately protected you from others. I ask you - who is more likely to have my SSN - a credit bureau who indexes their database by SSN, or my wife, who has no reason to carry my number with her. Then I ask - which one - the credit bureau or my wife - is more likely to have legitimate reason for accessing information on my account? Perhapos you see my point - that having the number, and spreading it around, makes it so that anyone can learn anything they want to about you. (Another example - If I know your address, SSN, and name, I can get your whole credit history for free. All I do is write to your local credit bureau telling them that I am you, and I have just been denied credit based on a report that supposedly came from them. They then have to send me, at no charge, your credit report. Do you want me accessing it? It doesn't even matter whether you do or don't.)
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (05/13/85)
> What do you think will happen to you that is bad if someone > knows your social security number? I can see the value of > keeping a credit card number secret as some stranger can > order 10,000 Mr. Microphones with your number. But I cannot > think of any nasty thing that anyone can do to me with my > SSN--assuming of course that I am an honest taxpaying citizen. Anyone with your SSN can access all sorts of information about you. They can, for example, get all your academic records, your medical information, your credit history, ad infinitum. If you don't MIND this, fine, but lots of other people would prefer that such information not be released without their prior consent. -- jcpatilla "'Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill !'"
susan@vaxwaller.UUCP (Susan Finkelman) (05/14/85)
> > What do you think will happen to you that is bad if someone > > knows your social security number? ..... > > ..... But I cannot > > think of any nasty thing that anyone can do to me with my > > SSN--assuming of course that I am an honest taxpaying citizen. > > Sue Brezden > > Perhapos you see my point - that having the number, and spreading it around, > makes it so that anyone can learn anything they want to about you. > > (Another example - If I know your address, SSN, and name, I can get your > whole credit history for free. All I do is write to your local credit > bureau telling them that I am you, and I have just been denied credit > based on a report that supposedly came from them. They then have to send > me, at no charge, your credit report. Do you want me accessing it? > It doesn't even matter whether you do or don't.) Long ago & far away I was a caseworker for a state welfare system. We were required to ask our recipients for the ss# of the alleged absent parent of the children the state was supporting (never mind how poorly). If the person gave us an ss# we checked with every one we could think of who used that number, including the state employment commission. If we contacted this person reported as the absent parent and (s)he denyed parenting the child, never mind, we ran the same check every six months anyway, and stuck this stuff in the case record. So, guilty or not, an investigation was done. Not nice? I don't even know if it was legal! I avoid giving out my number when I can. If I think my causing a stink will cause my record(s) to be flagged, I give it, hoping to get lost in the crush. Susan Finkelman, Varian, 2700 Mitchell Dr, Walnut Creek, Ca. 94598 {zehntel,amd,fortune,resonex,rtech}!varian!susan