Social Security number
In many countries, a Social Security number is a number issued to citizens and other inhabitants for dealing with the Social Security administration and other purposes.
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2 Similar concepts around the world 3 External links |
United States
A social security number is a nine digit number resembling "123-00-1234" which is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration of the government of the United States. Formerly people often had no social security number until the age of about 15 or 16, since they were used for tax purposes and those under that age seldom had remunerative employment. In the 1980s, the law was altered so that persons without social security numbers could not be claimed as dependents on tax returns. Since then, parents have often applied for social security numbers for their children as soon as they were born.
The original purpose of this number was to administer the Social Security program, but it has come to be used also as a "primary key" (a de facto national ID number) for individuals within the United States. This is a major example of functionality creep. Payroll, university student records, credit records, and driver's licenses are frequently indexed by Social Security number and hence disclosure and processing of these numbers is of major concern to privacy advocates.
The nine-digit Social Security number is divided into three parts.
Other numbers which have been widely used in advertising include:
The British equivalent is a National Insurance number, generally called a NI Number, although it is generally only used to administer state benefits, and has not gained the ubiquity of its US equivalent.
The Canadian equivalent is the Social Insurance Number or SIN.
The use of a SIN as a "de facto" ID number has not become as widespread in
Canada as the SSN has in the USA. There are only certain specified instances
where a person must provide a SIN (namely for tax or retirement benefit related issues). In non-specified instances, a business is free to ask for a person's SIN, but they cannot deny service on the basis that the person can't or won't provide one.
In France, "Social Security Number" is the usual name for the INSEE number.
In Australia, a TFN is a number identifying onself with the Australian Taxation Office.
In Sweden a Personal ID-number is used in dealings with public agencies, from health care to the tax authorities. It is also commonly used as a customer number in banks and insurance companies. The number uses ten digits where the first six gives the birth date.
Purpose and use
Structure
Valid SSNs
Any SSN conforming to one of the following criteria is an invalid number:
A pamphlet entitled "The Social Security Number" (Pub. No. 05-10633) provides an explanation of the SSN's structure and the method of assigning and validating Social Security numbers. SSNs Invalidated by Use In Advertising
SSNs used in advertising have rendered those numbers invalid. One infamous instance is that of the E. H. Ferree Company in Lockport, New York, which in 1938 decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. Over time the number that appeared (078-05-1120) was claimed by over 40,000 people as their own. 002-28-1852, 042-10-3580, 062-36-0749, 078-05-1120, 095-07-3645
128-03-6045, 135-01-6629, 141-18-6941, 165-16-7999, 165-18-7999
165-20-7999, 165-22-7999, 165-24-7999, 189-09-2294, 212-09-7694
212-09-9999, 306-30-2348, 308-12-5070, 468-28-8779, 549-24-1889
In order to prevent misuse, the Social Security Administration requests that Social Security cards shown in advertisements only use numbers guaranteed to be unused and invalid. These approved numbers are in the range 987-65-4320 through 987-65-4329.Similar concepts around the world
External links