Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!indri!nic.MR.NET!ns!jmh
From: jmh@ns.network.com (1606)
Newsgroups: comp.org.ieee
Subject: Social Security Number Uniqueness
Summary: They are not unique
Message-ID: <1392@ns.network.com>
Date: 15 May 89 13:25:54 GMT
References: <15908@bellcore.bellcore.com> <508@thor.wright.EDU> <880@jhereg.Jhereg.MN.ORG>
Sender: jmh@ns.network.com (Joel Halpern 424-1606)
Reply-To: jmh@ns.UUCP (Joel Halpern 424-1606)
Organization: Network Systems Corporation
Lines: 22

In article <880@jhereg.Jhereg.MN.ORG> mark@jhereg.MN.ORG (Mark H. Colburn) writes:
>In article <508@thor.wright.EDU> jsloan@thor.UUCP writes:
>>And I guess while we're at it, I'd better mention that Social
>>Security Numbers are not, and were never intended to be, unique.
>
>It really depends on what you mean by unique.  However, for each social
>security number which is currently assigned there had better be exactly one
>living person which corresponds to that social security number.

I know of one case in which two individuals were assigned the same
social security number.  Too make matters worse, one of them stole
money from the government, and the IRS and other agencies went after
the other guy.   They are still sorting out the mess.

It appears that this can happen whenever two people have the same name
and birthday.  This is because the SSA can interpret a request for a
new social security number as a request for information (i.e. what is
my number).  THey tell the difference by whether there is a number on
file already.  Thus,  the same number is given out twice.  

Joel M. Halpern				jmh@nsco.network.com
Network Systems Corporation