[mod.comp-soc] Confidentiality of Information

taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (09/27/86)

This article is from haste@andrew.cmu.edu (Dani Zweig)
 and was received on Fri Sep 26 14:55:59 1986
 
I could be wrong, but I believe that there has been some explicit US legislation
on the subject of social security numbers:

a) You don't have to give your SSN to anybody but the government (and all the
myriad organizations which collect information on behalf of the government,
such as your employer).

b) It is legal for an organization to refuse to serve you if you refuse to give
your SSN.

Unfortunately, situations where you are asked for your SSN tend to be those
where it is highly inconvenient to take your business elsewhere, so 'b' leaves
'a' toothless.