SSN Misuse as ID

Why is this not tied to a person's SSN (if possible)?

The SSN is not something you should be able to find easily

What's the issue with SSN being an ID?

Social security numbers should not be treated as private credentials. Most companies you deal with already have it, and revoking it is too slow and painful.

Same with SSNs. Try changing yours. And yet, they're used as passwords.

Wait till you hear about SSN. Which were created specifically not to be used for identification.

> Imagine if they demanded your SSN to sign up? A phone number is no different or less sensitive a unique identifier, perhaps even moreso these days.I have extremely bad news for you. US Social Security Numbers are not in fact unique, and the fact they're "sensitive" is a terrible joke because it's pretty easy to discover the SSN for an individual based on public information, especially older people because SSNs weren't even randomised at issuance until rela

It's a stupid system. Technically only the social security administration itself is allowed to require an SSN. But most banks, companies, etc. do require an SSN from you, or else they put you through a ton of hassle. In practice almost everyone just gives his SSN, and the few who don't can be subjected to more scrutiny. SSNs are also reused after you die. After all, we don't want to run out of numbers, our nation's greatest resource.

I don't think the SSN can be trusted as a key. They should be considered public data now. There's no going back.

Thanks to Equifax, SSNs are effectively public anyway.