5 ms·

Maybe it's better to enact legislation to stop using the SSN the way it's used today.

chrisabrams 9y ago
I think you and OP both hit valid points that should happen, but never will under government. However, on the blockchain...well that might just happen, but it won't be a government running the identity system.
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  What about on the cloud? Or on the world wide web? Or the information superhighway? Are those buzzwords too outdated?
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    Wow, sounds like a real paradigm shift.
  - BoiledCabbage 9y ago
    Yes and lets lose the ability to trace any and all criminal activity. Underground crime will love that - bring on the golden years!
    - pavel_lishin 9y ago
      I honestly can't tell if you're arguing for or against the blockchain here, but regardless, I think you've misunderstood my comment because I left off the /s tag.
- superobserver 9y ago
  It is a mistake and perhaps Pollyanna-ish to believe a governmental entity has not and cannot exert control over a blockchain ledger system of any kind either by means of protocol or other methods. In any case, I find it highly unlikely blockchains will not be implemented by various governmental agencies. As a store of auditable data, they would certainly be more trustworthy than some papers filed away somewhere or in some given database.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    Certainly a lot of banks seem to be interested, and if banks can find a use for them I can't see why not governments as well.
anonymousiam 9y ago
Do you mean something like the Privacy Act of 1974?
- steego 9y ago
  Can you expand on how this law is supposed to help but doesn't?
  - anonymousiam 9y ago
    Sure. See: https://www.justice.gov/opcl/social-security-number-usage https://www.justice.gov/opcl/social-security-number-usage
    - steego 9y ago
      How is this law supposed to help with this situation? Summarize what you think this law is preventing in your words and we can compare it to what the law actually says.
herewulf 9y ago
The Social Security Administration could make everyone's SSN public[1] immediately and then we could watch the entire credit industry scramble. Probably not a good idea without a reasonable alternative already in place but I think a certain amount of grim satisfaction would be gained in seeing the issue forced. [1]: But unfortunately they may be constrained by the aforementioned Privacy Act of 1974.

I think you and OP both hit valid points that should happen, but never will under government. However, on the blockchain...well that might just happen, but it won't be a government running the identity system.

pavel_lishin 9y ago
What about on the cloud? Or on the world wide web? Or the information superhighway? Are those buzzwords too outdated?
- emodendroket 9y ago
  Wow, sounds like a real paradigm shift.
- BoiledCabbage 9y ago
  Yes and lets lose the ability to trace any and all criminal activity. Underground crime will love that - bring on the golden years!
  - pavel_lishin 9y ago
    I honestly can't tell if you're arguing for or against the blockchain here, but regardless, I think you've misunderstood my comment because I left off the /s tag.
superobserver 9y ago
It is a mistake and perhaps Pollyanna-ish to believe a governmental entity has not and cannot exert control over a blockchain ledger system of any kind either by means of protocol or other methods. In any case, I find it highly unlikely blockchains will not be implemented by various governmental agencies. As a store of auditable data, they would certainly be more trustworthy than some papers filed away somewhere or in some given database.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  Certainly a lot of banks seem to be interested, and if banks can find a use for them I can't see why not governments as well.

anonymousiam 9y ago

Do you mean something like the Privacy Act of 1974?

steego 9y ago
Can you expand on how this law is supposed to help but doesn't?
- anonymousiam 9y ago
  Sure. See: https://www.justice.gov/opcl/social-security-number-usage https://www.justice.gov/opcl/social-security-number-usage
  - steego 9y ago
    How is this law supposed to help with this situation? Summarize what you think this law is preventing in your words and we can compare it to what the law actually says.

herewulf 9y ago

The Social Security Administration could make everyone's SSN public[1] immediately and then we could watch the entire credit industry scramble. Probably not a good idea without a reasonable alternative already in place but I think a certain amount of grim satisfaction would be gained in seeing the issue forced. [1]: But unfortunately they may be constrained by the aforementioned Privacy Act of 1974.