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Hypothetical situation: what do you do if you lose all of your ID (e.g. house fire)? You have to start somewhere, and your SSN is a good choice. You can't do i
by danudey 11y ago
Hypothetical situation: what do you do if you lose all of your ID (e.g. house fire)? You have to start somewhere, and your SSN is a good choice.
You can't do it solely based on one single number, but in this case a data breach would include name, address, credit card number, SSN, and probably security questions. You can turn around and use that information to play the part of a person to another organization, and then go from there. Combine that data with social engineering, and you can get a lot of information about someone and then use it in further attacks.
That's not to say the US's system isn't broken; lots of companies ask for (and require!) the SSN even though they shouldn't. The problem is that it's not just one identifier that holds the key to your life, but that the SSN is an extremely strong identifier which is assumed to be secret.
- Filligree 11y agoWell, sure, but the government's information on you will also include... parents, other family, a photograph of your face, and so on. It should never be possible to do what you're suggesting, not unless the USA is failing to collect that info in the first place.
- schrodinger 11y agostolen identity doesn't usually mean that someone has convinced a government office that they are you, that would be a lot harder for the reasons you say. It's more often someone having enough information to open a credit card in your name and start using it, or take out a loan—things for which the government is not really involved.
- StavrosK 11y agoThat's a good hypothetical, but, as the sibling said, you'll have family to vouch for you, or the police will have your photo and fingerprint.