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From: petec@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Credit and the Social Security Number (SSN)
Message-ID: <7043@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 21-May-84 02:11:03 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.7043
Posted: Mon May 21 02:11:03 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 17-May-84 05:29:11 EDT
References: <1823@sdccsu3.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 55

>>>  1.  If a creditor is willing to investigate your credit even though you
>>>  refuse to give your SSN, your credit record can be accessed by your
>>>  address, last name, and the first few letters of your first name.

If a creditor is willing? Any creditor that "requires" a SSN is looking
for a fight from a lot of people. If they are threatened with legal action
or having to deal with the government, they will probably give in right
away. Make them be the ones to give up!

>>> 2.  If, on the other hand, you just moved to your present address, it is
>>> extremely unlikely that a file will be found at all.  The credit records
>>> are not matched to name alone.  Either an address or a valid SSN is
>>> mandatory.

Mandatory? To me, mandatory means I have to do it, and I won't be giving
my SSN out to anyone without a legal right for it (as has been pointed
out previously, this means anyone paying me interest, or my employer).
At least there's an 'or' condition; I'll supply my address.

>>> 3.  The SSN is preferred to the address because it matches your file to
>>> all of your previous credit in the reporting region,  listing credit
>>> long-forgotten at all of your previous addresses for the last seven
>>> years.  If this credit is good, it is to your advantage to supply the
>>> creditor with your correct SSN.

It's preferred because it makes your credits records easier to retrieve.
And, potentially, your life history, job history, family history, etc.
It is only to your advantage if you wish to contribute to the 
dehumanizing idea of turning us all into numbers in a global database.
The only reason all this information is being requested is that it can be
stored cheaply.

>>> I hope that this little review will help somebody out there.

And I hope that my response will help others. I'll be the first to admit
that what I'm saying can be construed as paranoid, but I'm not alone.
We have all seen 'good' ideas that have backfired with unforeseen
consequences or that have been twisted by unscrupulous or over-zealous
persons. As computer scientists, we more than others should realize
how our work can be abused to the point of infringing on our rights of
privacy. Some may flame that this isn't happening, but I claim it is
to a certain extent, and if it really isn't happening, let's not let it 
start. In conclusion I remind you that this is net.consumers; we are the
consumers, and the retailers, vendors, leasers et al exist to serve us.
The burden of business should be on them, not us (idealistic, to be sure,
but that's how it should be).

		You don't have to agree (that's what makes the world 
		go 'round), but at least think about it.

-- 
Call-Me:   Pete Cottrell, Univ. of Md. Comp. Sci. Dept.
UUCP:	   {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!petec
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