We HAVE a set of laws and regulations mandating that SSN numbers be kept secret. It doesn't work. We have laws restricting the use of SSNs (it is illegal for mo

We HAVE a set of laws and regulations mandating that SSN numbers be kept secret. It doesn't work. We have laws restricting the use of SSNs (it is illegal for most situations to demand an SSN, except for the situations where it is mandatory). They don't work either. There is, however, one simple solution. Inform banks and others who need to verify identity that they may not use knowledge-of-someone's-SSN as a means of verifying identity. After a brief adjustment period for them to change their processes, publish a public list of every citizen's SSN. (Note: the Equifax breach already did half the job here... so that part isn't hard.) There is no problem with having SSN numbers, and we MUST have something of the sort if the government intends to keep track of its citizens. There is no problem with SSN numbers being public, and history has demonstrated that it is impossible to design a system that successfully keeps them secret. The only problem lies in the fact that we treat knowledge of this number as some kind of proof of identity.