3 ms·

Social security numbers are unique IDentifiers for almost all people (legally) living in the US. Their whole point is to uniquely identify each person in the co

Social security numbers are unique IDentifiers for almost all people (legally) living in the US. Their whole point is to uniquely identify each person in the country. Even if you immigrate to the US after 25 you'll be assigned an SSN after becoming a permanent resident. You can't board a flight with it because there's no photo, but it's still a near-universal way to ID each person residing in the US.

kube-system 4y ago
Their point is to identify a unique taxpayer record or a unique social security recipient. They lack a photo, so their utility is limited in identifying a physical human being. They are, pedantically, "an ID". Just like a UUID is an ID. They're just not the type of ID we're talking about: an ID that authenticates the identity of a human who possesses it.
Tangurena2 4y ago
SSN are supposed to be unique. They are not. If you try to use them as a unique identifier in a database, your customers/end users will be sorry. In the payroll app that I'm currently working on, 111111111 is used as a temporary number. Which ends up not being temporary enough.
- paledot 4y ago
  > your customers/end users will be sorry So will you, because your database is now bleeding red-hot PII across every query and foreign key. Chances are you'll now end up with a web interface that uses SSNs in its URLs. Holy hell, how was this even considered?
  - kube-system 4y ago
    FWIW, they did say unique identifier, not primary key.
    - paledot 4y ago
      Fair point. Hopefully that was just me jumping to an uncharitable conclusion, and if so I apologize.
dragonwriter 4y ago
> You can’t board a flight with it because there’s no photo Exactly. When we discuss “national ID” we are talking about an identification document: a tool that allows authenticating a person; an SSN doesn’t do that. It is an identifier, not an identification document. (We do have a actual national IDs, but they aren’t universal or mandatory, either in theory or in practice, though they are required for certain purposes and will be soon for more, and are increasingly common. Passports, state-issued IDs meeting REAL ID standards, Enhanced Driver’s Licenses, etc.)

kube-system 4y ago

Their point is to identify a unique taxpayer record or a unique social security recipient. They lack a photo, so their utility is limited in identifying a physical human being. They are, pedantically, "an ID". Just like a UUID is an ID. They're just not the type of ID we're talking about: an ID that authenticates the identity of a human who possesses it.

Tangurena2 4y ago

SSN are supposed to be unique. They are not. If you try to use them as a unique identifier in a database, your customers/end users will be sorry. In the payroll app that I'm currently working on, 111111111 is used as a temporary number. Which ends up not being temporary enough.

paledot 4y ago
> your customers/end users will be sorry So will you, because your database is now bleeding red-hot PII across every query and foreign key. Chances are you'll now end up with a web interface that uses SSNs in its URLs. Holy hell, how was this even considered?
- kube-system 4y ago
  FWIW, they did say unique identifier, not primary key.
  - paledot 4y ago
    Fair point. Hopefully that was just me jumping to an uncharitable conclusion, and if so I apologize.

dragonwriter 4y ago

> You can’t board a flight with it because there’s no photo Exactly. When we discuss “national ID” we are talking about an identification document: a tool that allows authenticating a person; an SSN doesn’t do that. It is an identifier, not an identification document. (We do have a actual national IDs, but they aren’t universal or mandatory, either in theory or in practice, though they are required for certain purposes and will be soon for more, and are increasingly common. Passports, state-issued IDs meeting REAL ID standards, Enhanced Driver’s Licenses, etc.)