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From: dalamb@umiacs.umd.edu (David Lamb)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Social Security numbers
Message-ID: <29736@mimsy.umd.edu>
Date: 30 Jan 91 21:07:06 GMT
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Reply-To: dalamb@umiacs.umd.edu (David Lamb)
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Organization: UMIACS, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
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The recent discussions about privacy prompt this question:
Use of a single "person identifier" like social security number make it
easier to correlate different computer databases, which might lead to
more violations of privacy.  I have a very vague memory that SSNs (and
Social Insurance Numbers in Canada) were supposed to be "for social
security/insurance purposes only"; that anybody who pays you "income"
(employers, companies paying you dividents, banks paying you interest)
were allowed to demand it from you, but that others weren't.  Since those
naive days I've encountered health insurance providers who use it as your
ID, Universities (maryland) who use it as ID, grocery stores who demand
it for cheque cashing cards...

Is it legal for all these people to do this?  Did somebody change the
rules, or was my "vague memory" always wrong?  is anyone else upset about
this?
--

David Alex Lamb				internet: dalamb@umiacs.umd.edu