Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!brl-tgr!wmartin
From: wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin )
Newsgroups: net.legal
Subject: Re: Don't use my SSA as a unique identifying indicia for me my name is...
Message-ID: <10486@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 7-May-85 17:21:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.10486
Posted: Tue May  7 17:21:57 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 9-May-85 01:45:40 EDT
References: <none> <25524@lanl.ARPA>
Reply-To: wmartin@brl-bmd.UUCP
Distribution: net
Organization: USAMC ALMSA
Lines: 22

One strange use of the SSN by unauthorized people that I ran into:

Back about ten or so years ago, I went to a country auction with my
wife's uncle, who was a great auction buff. The people running the
auction, when they handed out bid numbers to those who wanted to bid,
asked for the bidder's SSN! I not only found this an objectionable use
of the SSN by someone not authorized to request it, but also was somewhat
amazed because I couldn't figure out what use it could possibly be!

After all, the police departments state that engraving your possessions
with your SSN does no good -- they cannot get the Social Security
Administration to give them names & addresses for an SSN -- so they 
say to use a Driver's License number (which leaves out non-drivers, unless
they get a state ID for non-drivers from the Drivers' License issuers).
So what could these auctioneers use an SSN for, even if you did give
them a bad check? [They usually insist on cash or traveller's checks
or certified checks or money orders anyway.]

This has stuck in my mind as the most off-the-wall misuse of the SSN
I ever noticed...

Will