I guess that shows what people get for believing the state.
WraithGear@lemmy.world 5 days ago
ssn was never intended to be a form of identification. it was specifically decided that it would not be used as a form of identification by the administration that controlled it
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 days ago
WraithGear@lemmy.world 5 days ago
i am not going to defend the government, but in this case, it was problem laziness from the private sector. instead of relying on actual identification forms they used the ssn to shortcut paperwork
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Besides, it’s a really bad form of ID. The numbers aren’t even unique, and up until 2011, a few digits are reserved for geographical information.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_number#Stru…
If I had to reach for a hasty solution, it would be to use the IRS taxpayer ID instead. Of course, that might weaken the SSA’s importance overall, so that wouldn’t be without consequences: en.wikipedia.org/…/Individual_Taxpayer_Identifica…