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Why everything is tied to our SSN, I don't understand. Why we allow private companies to manage our US social credit score, I don't know either. There are a lot

Why everything is tied to our SSN, I don't understand. Why we allow private companies to manage our US social credit score, I don't know either. There are a lot of things we've done here that make no sense.

ncphil 4y ago
... because back in the 70s it was decided that disclosure (a/k/a "transparency") was all we'd ask of private companies (with exceptions, as in, some companies aren't even expected to disclose). Who do you think _actually owns_ the U.S. Congress anyway?
jmclnx 4y ago
The main reason is "the mark of the devil", every time the US Federal Gov. wanted to issues ID Cards, that came up. Just look at the "Real ID" issues, but that is still not a useful ID for everyone. Also if you look at your Social Security Card, it states "Not to be used for identification". But Companies, Univ and everyone ignored that because they wanted a Unique Number. Not may people realize the SSN is recycled as people die off. I wish the US Gov would sue all Companies and Orgs that used the SSN for ID purposes for trillions and return that amount to people with Social Security Numbers.
- catiopatio 4y ago
  No, the issue isn’t religious irrationality — it’s understanding the inherent dangers of a mandatory government identification system and not wanting one. Unfortunately, we have several anyway, but that’s no reason to accept a universal inescapable federal ID that we would never be able to roll back. > I wish the US Gov would sue all Companies and Orgs that used the SSN for ID purposes for trillions and return that amount to people with Social Security Numbers. At least on that we agree. The SSN bas become a poor, backdoor replacement for federal identification documents — which is exactly what people were worried would happen, and why they received the sop of “not for identification”. That didn’t last long: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/weekinreview/the-nation-not-for-identification-purposes-just-kidding.html https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/weekinreview/the-nation-n...
  - reidjs 4y ago
    What's the downside of a universal federal ID?
    - supertrope 4y ago
      If nearly all choices and utterances are linked to the same database and can be used against you in ways that don't even exist today people will feel a strong chilling effect. We have bankruptcy and privacy laws specifically so the owners of these private ledgers and databases do not entirely control our lives. The issuer of an universal ID gains gatekeeping power. Besides the danger of people getting excluded, children and marginalized demographics won't have one. Ironically widespread deployment of an ID can sometimes lead to more fraud. Bureaucracies tend to confuse identification, authentication, and authorization. Possessing a scan of a passport is often accepted as possessing the passport which is accepted as authority to transact with that name. Through the transitive property possessing a hacked .jpg can allow a fraudster to transact as you. When businesses and bureaucracies are not liable for fraud or their errors, they focus on the ID tokens as a way to improve throughput instead of assessing the legitimacy of the transaction in a holistic manner.

ncphil 4y ago

... because back in the 70s it was decided that disclosure (a/k/a "transparency") was all we'd ask of private companies (with exceptions, as in, some companies aren't even expected to disclose). Who do you think _actually owns_ the U.S. Congress anyway?

jmclnx 4y ago

The main reason is "the mark of the devil", every time the US Federal Gov. wanted to issues ID Cards, that came up. Just look at the "Real ID" issues, but that is still not a useful ID for everyone. Also if you look at your Social Security Card, it states "Not to be used for identification". But Companies, Univ and everyone ignored that because they wanted a Unique Number. Not may people realize the SSN is recycled as people die off. I wish the US Gov would sue all Companies and Orgs that used the SSN for ID purposes for trillions and return that amount to people with Social Security Numbers.

catiopatio 4y ago
No, the issue isn’t religious irrationality — it’s understanding the inherent dangers of a mandatory government identification system and not wanting one. Unfortunately, we have several anyway, but that’s no reason to accept a universal inescapable federal ID that we would never be able to roll back. > I wish the US Gov would sue all Companies and Orgs that used the SSN for ID purposes for trillions and return that amount to people with Social Security Numbers. At least on that we agree. The SSN bas become a poor, backdoor replacement for federal identification documents — which is exactly what people were worried would happen, and why they received the sop of “not for identification”. That didn’t last long: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/weekinreview/the-nation-not-for-identification-purposes-just-kidding.html https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/weekinreview/the-nation-n...
- reidjs 4y ago
  What's the downside of a universal federal ID?
  - supertrope 4y ago
    If nearly all choices and utterances are linked to the same database and can be used against you in ways that don't even exist today people will feel a strong chilling effect. We have bankruptcy and privacy laws specifically so the owners of these private ledgers and databases do not entirely control our lives. The issuer of an universal ID gains gatekeeping power. Besides the danger of people getting excluded, children and marginalized demographics won't have one. Ironically widespread deployment of an ID can sometimes lead to more fraud. Bureaucracies tend to confuse identification, authentication, and authorization. Possessing a scan of a passport is often accepted as possessing the passport which is accepted as authority to transact with that name. Through the transitive property possessing a hacked .jpg can allow a fraudster to transact as you. When businesses and bureaucracies are not liable for fraud or their errors, they focus on the ID tokens as a way to improve throughput instead of assessing the legitimacy of the transaction in a holistic manner.