3 ms·
I don't really get this article. If you have someones full name, date of birth and SSN in the Federal Government's eyes you are them. There is no national ID sy
by colemannugent 9y ago
I don't really get this article. If you have someones full name, date of birth and SSN in the Federal Government's eyes you are them. There is no national ID system, and AFAIK SSNs are the only real thing that identifies you to the Federal Government (yes I know that it's only supposed to be used for Social Security benefits, but lets be real here). What other piece of info could they ask for that gives them more confidence that you are who you say you are?
I understand that this service allows you to get all the other info, but that seems trivial compared to the SSN which Krebs states that you can already buy online. Is is really news saying that once someone knows your SSN then you're screwed?
- lostcolony 9y agoKinda. Because the way your identity is verified in such situations (and oftentimes used along with asking for SSN#, to prove identity) tends to be via other associations. "Where have you lived previously" and the like. Which presents us with the real issue. To verify data means you must also store that data. So every service designed to allow verification of that data becomes a new vulnerability. Or as succinctly as a prof once said, "Trust is hard".
- dragontamer 9y agoIf only there was a government agency that was tasked with hand-delivering memos to every single American, every single workday of the year.... Such an agency might be able to prove that somebody lives at a particular address with ease. https://www.usps.com/ https://www.usps.com/ ---------- Post Office is seeing a decline in its usability due to Emails. Okay, that's a problem, so give them other work to do. Other useful work, like verification of identities. (IE: send a letter to the address and prove that such and such lives where they say they live).