There are many places that use Social Security numbers as a primary key to identify individuals. If you think about it, almost every place that adds you into a system requires you to submit your Social Security number. I feel indifferent about this topic. Yes, the use of Social Security as a primary key imposes a huge risk to an individual's security but it's so common for it to be asked these days that a Social Security number loses it's "security" purpose. There have been many data breaches that resulted in theft of personal information such as Social Security numbers. Social Security numbers don't feel like something that needs to be private anymore just because every organizations asks you for it and put you in risk of identity theft.
The first Social Security Numbers(SSN) were first issued in 1936. These cards each all have their own number used to track the earning histories of U.S. Workers. The cards also were used to determine Social Security benefit entitlement and benefit levels. The use of the SSN later expanded in terms of use. “As of December2008, the Social Security Administration (SSA) had issued over 450 million original SSNs, and nearly every legal resident of the United States had one” (Carolyn Puckett). The SSN led to what is mostly used today to identify and gather information on a person. This method is particularly used when applying for jobs.
Social Security Number of an Individual - The number one priority would be to keep the SSN confidential, this information does not need to be accessed by most individuals. Behind that integrity would be the next priority, to make sure this matches up with the individual at hand. Third of course would have to be availability, without this information, it could prove to be difficult to verify someones identity.
The misuse or failure to secure Personally Identifiable Information can lead to the information being leaked, stolen, and/or misplaced. When Personally Identifiable Information is leaked it is somewhere where anyone can access the information, an example of this would be Personally Identifiable Information that was published in public record such as a court appearance or traffic ticket. When Personally Identifiable Information is misplaced it is susceptible to being stolen or misused. The misplacement of Personally Identifiable Information is of particular concern in the Information Technology industry where if Personally Identifiable Information is misplaced in, say a database, it could be accessed by people that are not are not supposed to be able to see the data or by people that do not have a “need to know” or authorized to see the data. Theft of Personally Identifiable Information is of particular concern because the people, thieves, are trying to access the Personally Identifiable Information for criminal intentions such as identity theft which has been steadily on the rise since the begging of the “computer age”. Identity theft can lead to lost time and money related to securing bank accounts and credit cards and the longer the identity theft goes unnoticed the consequences become more prolific. The identity thieves can assume ones entire identity and open up new
I am pretty sure as a human being trying to live a successful, and a life worth living everyone wants their information to be protected as much as possible. Things such as credit card information, birth records, bank information, basically anything that has to do with money or someone’s private life
Close your eyes and picture a country with limited amounts of food, people staving, people in financial crisis with no means to support their family or self. Now open your eyes, were the people you envisioned older men, women, and children? If you said yes, you’ve visualized The Great Depression.
In 1945, the government started to use number to identify a person. Social security number, life insurance, policy number, all identify a person. These number are so important that in the modern day if any person get a hold of these number, a person’s identity could be stolen, meaning that person money, housing and banking could be at risk. In the modern era, numbers are used for everyday life, from purchasing, owning houses, and even drive a vehicle. It's a way the government can keep track of every Americans. Social Security began in 1935 for the sole purpose of tracking the earning histories of the U.S. workers. Now every legal resident of the United States has one. Its easier to keep track due to the era of computers, but its seem dehumanizing
The debate on National Identification card has restarted since the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The issue of introducing the National Identification Card came into people’s view after a long time hoping that it would reduce the danger of terrorism in the future. United States is not the only one country who is introducing the National Identification Card. There are other hundreds of countries that have already had National Identification Card in use in order to improve security in the country, assist law enforcement and make a delivery of services more efficiently to all the citizens of the nation. People think that introducing the National ID
For as long as I can remember Identifications have been used to show, and verify one’s identity, whether it is to buy a small box of cigarettes or get into a place, we must show and prove who are. There is really no excuse to not have an identification for something more important like voting.
People should have more control over their personal information than a corporation because they will value and safeguard it better than a company out to make a profit. To address this issue, Congress should pass a major law banning the sale of any personal information without an individuals express consent, along the lines of the Federal Do-Not-Call list, but much more restrictive. This law would not prevent companies from sharing necessary information like credit history or criminal convictions, but it would ban selling things like addresses, phone numbers, mother’s maiden names, and other information companies have no good reason to possess. This would assure customers that their information was not being passed around to anyone who wanted it and it would make identity theft impossible unless the individual himself was conned into giving out the information.
Second business at hand is that what might be required or contained on a national ID card: Citizenship or Immigration status, home address, voter registration, record of felony/convictions, social security number, blood type, medical records, dental records, auto insurance information, employer, digital thumbprint, digital photograph, DNA profile, travel record, record of your phone bills, places you been through, and much more that you can think of that can be used to “keep track” of your life in order to “protect” you.
Reporter noted the children are not attending school; the mother indicated she was going to home teach them but she is not because all day and all night they are playing and running around. Reporter noted he is not why the children are receiving social security or SSI because nothing is wrong with them. Reporter noted the children need their education.
The reasons for this are varied. One of the major factors that prevent full federal protection is that states have broad ways of defining what is considered personally identifiable information. For instance, take a state like Connecticut: their state laws consider an “account number” as a personal identifier (Wright, 2009). Let’s say a church sponsored a bake sale and someone bought a cupcake from that church. If the church happened to log that sale with a unique number, say, S101, where ‘S” is the first initial of the buyer and the number is a one-up sales number, that church would then fall under the provisions of the Connecticut state law and may be required to protect that customer’s identity. Other states have varying definitions as to what PII is. The most robust PII protections in the country exist in the state of California, making PII a protected right and allowing anyone that interacts with that data to appropriately protect and reasonably notify affected people of any potential security breaches (Wikipedia, n.d.).
The definition of Identity theft is when someone “knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with intent to commit, or to aid and abet, or in connection with, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law” (Finklea, 2009, p. 2).The use of social security numbers has taken identity theft to the extreme. It was originally used as a tax identifiable number. Now it is being used for job applications, bank accounts, Medicare, and welfare approvals. With the social security number on several different applications, this is opening the door for numerous identity theft opportunities.
A United States citizens Social Security number is there lifeline that links them to the rest of the world. It is that number that allows one to obtain credit to purchase automobiles, a house, open bank accounts, work, and establish credit. A Social Security number is the driving vehicle that dictates to the world who’s who financially and socially; it communicates an autobiography about a person.