Using Your SS Number As ID

Henning said:
Yep, I always say if someone wants to steal my identity, they are welcome to it.:lol:
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Who would want *your* identity? :D:D:D

But seriously, I've been a victim of identity theft before... and it took many years to finally clean up... worst part it was from a family member :mad2:
 
Bob Noel said:
Just part of the protocol to avoid giving a patient the wrong medication or treatment.
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I can see that. I just didn't realize they identified people that way until I started having more contact with various doctors and medical personnel. I couldn't understand why I was constantly being asked my date of birth (or that of my mother when the patient was her).
 
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Rcmutz said:
Mine has it as well, and I am 57....:wink2:

I am looking to purchase 2 cases of oil from a distributor and for their account purposes, they want my Federal ID or SS#. I gave them my DL number instead.
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It would have been safer giving them your SSN.

Now that everybody is wrapped around the axle about SSNs not being used for ID (which by the way is only prohibited for the federal government itself), the online banking uses the driver's license # as the defacto banking ID. I'd much more jealously guard my DL# than just about anything else.
 
NoHeat said:
Ok, but assuming a bad guy has your SS number (not your debit or credit card numbers), how many really bad things can he do to you if you have a credit freeze?
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They can get a "refund" from the IRS using your number, no questions asked, if they e-file early. Ask me how I know...:mad2:
 
RotorAndWing said:
But what if you were to use a copy of your SSN card??
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ROFLMAO. No one said anything about how awesome this post was. ;)

JGoodish said:
A credit freeze only prevents the three credit bureaus from reporting on your information. If an activity doesn't make a credit inquiry to one of the three credit bureaus, the freeze will do nothing.



A credit freeze would typically be effective at preventing an extension of additional credit, but would not necessarily prevent someone from using stolen information to establish a new identity using your personal information, engage in non-financial criminal activity using your identity, or to commit tax fraud. Those are just some examples which come to mind.
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Credit freezes are useless.

http://www.wired.com/2010/05/lifelock-identity-theft/

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news...its-identity-theft-protection-service-6445863
 
SCCutler said:
Amazing how much information sheeple will volunteer.

Every physician's office I have visited in the last five years or so has given me a form to fill out with all kinds of personal information sought, including driver's license and SSN. I routinely decline to provide, and the clerks rarely have a clue what to do then. I've never been refused services.
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Same here. I provide my name, address, phone number, insurance card, and emergency contact. Anything else I put a line through. No one has even even mentioned it.

Rich
 
Do doctors offices ask for SS numbers just to help their bill collection agencies?
 
NoHeat said:
Do doctors offices ask for SS numbers just to help their bill collection agencies?
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Probably, but I really don't care anymore. Pieces of my identity have been stolen seven times already, including in the Anthem insurance hack; so the thought that I may be inconveniencing these organizations doesn't evoke crocodile tears on my part.

Someone told me that omitting my SSN may also cause problems with the state's Electronic Medical Records system, about which I also couldn't give a rat's ass. I routinely refuse consent anyway.

Maybe it's a result of having spent too many years working on recalcitrant computers operated by clueless users, or maybe it's a result of my personal data having been hacked so many times, but I really don't trust anyone with my PII anymore. I've actually gone back to carrying cash around so I don't have to use cards for everyday purchases. That's saying something.

Rich

EDIT: Actually, it's eight times that my PII has been compromised. I forgot about the OPM hack.
 
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Everskyward said:
I've also put it in dozens of other people's logbooks. Remember when it was your pilot's license number? It was also my driver's license number when I lived in Idaho in the 1980s. When did we start getting more secretive about it?
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When it started being stolen on a wholesale basis, largely by illegal immigrants. I shudder when I think of the thousands of tax returns that I signed in the 1980s and 1990s, along with my SSN as required by law, sitting in companies' and individuals' files.

Now we have to pay something like $65 annually to the IRS to maintain a Preparers Tax ID (PTIN) instead of an SSN when we prepare clients' returns.
 
FlySince9 said:
My SSAN card states right on it "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND TAX PUPOSES, NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" RIGHT ON THE FRONT OF THE CARD...Albeit my card is 50 years old...
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Mine states the same thing. I just didn't want people to know I have a 50 year old SS card...:lol::lol:
 
If anybody needs an SS number at a doctor's office, try this one:

elvis_social_security_card_1950.jpg
 
It's interesting that it says "worker's signature." I suppose that reflects a time when a SS number had fewer uses than today.
 
Well here's one for ya: Write a letter to the administrator of Social Security asking what are the laws that require one to get a social security number to live and work in the US, and you'll get a letter back stating that there are no laws requiring anyone to get a social security number to live or work in the US, or for any other reason, nor are there any laws requiring you to get one just for the sake or getting one. It's a completely voluntary - to wit: you are not automatically assigned one, you have to apply for one.
 
garyb said:
Well here's one for ya: Write a letter to the administrator of Social Security asking what are the laws that require one to get a social security number to live and work in the US, and you'll get a letter back stating that there are no laws requiring anyone to get a social security number to live or work in the US, or for any other reason, nor are there any laws requiring you to get one just for the sake or getting one. It's a completely voluntary - to wit: you are not automatically assigned one, you have to apply for one.
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Kids are getting them at birth. The government wants to keep track of everyone. :mad2:
 
Geico266 said:
Rant on. :mad2:

How in this day and age are companies and the government still requiring you to disclose your SS number as an ID? :mad2:

I tried to buy some stuff from a Canadian company. They said there would be no duty or other charges, but they wanted my SSN for the import broker duty forms to be filed with the government. :rolleyes:

The government is incapable of securing any server let alone one for customs info.

They said they would use my company Fed ID number instead. I said I not buying these items through the company. Doing so could create tax issues and "contaminate" the business with unrelated personal purchases and may creatare liability issues from the company to me personally.

Why in the hell do we still use SSNs for IDs? :mad2:

Rant off! Thanks I feel better now.
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"Sorry, I can't help you with that info"

Or a simple "what if I'm from Canada"

Those two work quite often for me.


I don't give mine out, unless you're the social security administration, which likley won't exist by the time I'm old enough to collect, my SSN is none of your business.
 
NoHeat said:
If anybody needs an SS number at a doctor's office, try this one:

elvis_social_security_card_1950.jpg
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The bottom says it all.


"For social security purposes. Not for identification"

 
So what would you do in the case where I had my kidney stone ER visit a couple weeks ago?

Walk in, first thing is "fill out this form" and it requires all that stuff. Do you just not fill it out and tell them that, and are there parts that you can fill out and omit others? Does anyone really absolutely legally have to have my SSN to do anything?

So far I've given it out when asked but this thread is making me think.
 
Guess we just need a biometric, chip-embedded national ID card.

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Might as well get a jump on what will be required for government single-payer health insurance.

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Or a body-embedded chip.

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

ducks and runs....
:D:D:lol:
 
overdrive148 said:
So what would you do in the case where I had my kidney stone ER visit a couple weeks ago?

Walk in, first thing is "fill out this form" and it requires all that stuff. Do you just not fill it out and tell them that, and are there parts that you can fill out and omit others? Does anyone really absolutely legally have to have my SSN to do anything?

So far I've given it out when asked but this thread is making me think.
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You can try not giving it. You might be pleasantly surprised. Didn't work for me, and I tried it when I first moved out here. Basically this health system will turn you away if you don't provide a SSN. At least for a non-urgent visit, not sure what would happen if your first contact was at the ER.
 
wsuffa said:
Guess we just need a biometric, chip-embedded national ID card.
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I wish! I already have one from TSA, a TWIC card, even though it's useless since there are no readers in the field, it's no more than a picture ID at this point. Please, put all my credentials on it so I only need one damn card for everything.
 
Henning said:
It's really irrelevant, anyone that wants the number can get it, you have to put it on many public record items.
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Actually, the only folks you are required to give your SS# to, is the IRS and SS admin., and no one else.
 
I have few worries that anyone can properly identify me. I went to renew my drivers license last week and the "NEW" facial recognition camera they used could not recognize me from their database. The photo on my existing license was not adequate for the license clerk to issue, I had to go to another section of the DMV for authentication. They tried to change my hair color from red to brown, I refused! I have become really interested in providing the bureaucracy every opportunity to screw themselves. So carelessly transposing numbers is on my list when necessary.:rolleyes2:

Just call me Not Sure!
 
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azure said:
You can try not giving it. You might be pleasantly surprised. Didn't work for me, and I tried it when I first moved out here. Basically this health system will turn you away if you don't provide a SSN. At least for a non-urgent visit, not sure what would happen if your first contact was at the ER.
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Easy, just say "No Ingles". The world will be your ostra.
 
Sleepingsquirrel said:
I have few worries that anyone can properly identify me. I went to renew my drivers license last week and the "NEW" facial recognition camera they used could not recognize me from their database. The photo on my existing license was not adequate for the license clerk to issue, I had to go to another section of the DMV for authentication. They tried to change my hair color from red to brown, I refused! I have become really interested in providing the bureaucracy every opportunity to screw themselves. So carelessly transposing numbers is on my list when necessary.:rolleyes2:

Just call me Not Sure!
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