At 5:25 PM -0700 6/1/97, William H. Geiger III wrote:
IMHO the request for SS numbers are usally done out of convieniance more than anything else. This is not to justify it just an explanation why so many palces request SS numbers.
Anyone that has written database software where unique information is stored on individules a SS number is quite convienat as everyone has a unique one. Most employee, payroll, medical, insurance, credit, databases use SS numbers rather than create individule id #'s. One's SS number has 2 unique qualities that make it perfect for this use: 1 every person has a unique #, and 2 it never changes. This can not be said for any other identifiers one may use, names, addresses, DL #'s, ...ect all have the possiablity to change over time while your SS # is forever. By using SS # as id #'s makes communication of data between diffrent database all that much simpler. From personal experiance I can testify that the entier ...
This reminds me of a hack I heard about some years back. There's a way to generate a number for any person which is unique. It is not shared by anyone else on the planet. Best of all, this number can be generated without use of a computer, without entry of any allegedly random numbers, and without any hashing of personal data. It's not necessarily a real short number, certainly not as short as an SS number. And best of all, the cost is low. Just a dollar, in fact. I'll explain later. --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."