SSNs (was Re: Internal Passports)

[Black Unicorn]

On Mon, 5 Aug 1996, Jamie Zawinski wrote:

> Black Unicorn wrote:
> > 
> [ ...random losers asking for your SSN... ]
> > > I was horrified and gave a random number.
> > 
> > You should always be horrified, and always give a random number.
> 
> Well, it would be nice if it was that easy.  You (legally) need to give
> the correct one to anyone who has to make a report about you to the IRS,
> right?  Such as your employer.  But it's not always clear who else needs
> it.  Is it needed to allow someone to do a credit check on you?  Is it
> needed to get a driver's license?  (The fine print on the DMV forms says
> "yes".)  Is it necessary to make use of employer-sponsored medical
> insurance?  (I suspect that the answer to this one is "no", except for
> the fact that when my employer set up my medical insurance they let the
> insurance company use my SSN as my insurance-related-ID-number.  But in
> any event, my dentist told me, "if you don't give it to us, they won't
> pay.")
> 
> I don't like the idea of having a universal ID number, but neither do I
> like the idea of having to go to extreme lengths to make the "right
> thing" happen for something where my effort will have only moral impact,
> not material.
> 
> If you already have a SSN, can you get a *new* one in any legal way?
> (Sort of the same idea as changing your phone number to avoid
> telemarketing scum...)

I explained a good deal of this in a post I made some time ago where I
related the tale of a friend who had simply made up a number and used it
since age 17.

The reality is that not much will be done, aside some form letters from
the IRS indicating that you seem to be using the wrong number, and won't
you please change it. 

I suppose that you might have to give it to the IRS if you want a refund,
but why to your employer?  Why not give your employer the wrong number
and correct it directly to the IRS when the IRS complains?

Ditto for your bank.

Almost no one can actually get the number related to your name, only
verify if the number you are using has been issued.

I am continually amazed at the number of people who surrender this number
simply because someone tells them that they have to or the sky will fall
in.

Bottom line, if someone besides the IRS or the SS people have your
name/number relation, it is because YOU gave it to them.

> 
> -- 
> Jamie Zawinski    jwz at netscape.com   http://www.netscape.com/people/jwz/
> ``A signature isn't a return address, it is the ASCII equivalent of a
>   black velvet clown painting; it's a rectangle of carets surrounding
>   a quote from a literary giant of weeniedom like Heinlein or Dr. Who.''
>                                                          -- Chris Maeda
> 

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