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>UPDATE: STEAM IS DEPLATFORMING TH3K. DIRECT DOWNLOAD VIA TAXHEAVEN3000.COM ON APRIL 4. Maybe TurboTax sent a check, we don’t know. Perhaps because it asked fo

>UPDATE: STEAM IS DEPLATFORMING TH3K. DIRECT DOWNLOAD VIA TAXHEAVEN3000.COM ON APRIL 4. Maybe TurboTax sent a check, we don’t know. Perhaps because it asked for your social security number. https://imgur.com/a/KmWM6KU https://imgur.com/a/KmWM6KU

capableweb 4y ago
Is that... Illegal? /from someone who never lived in the US
- dfxm12 4y ago
  No. You might be surprised at all the forms that use SSN improperly/lazily as some form of unique identifier though.
  - soupfordummies 4y ago
    IN the past 2 days I've encountered that both the cable and gas companies used mine to verify. I sure didn't give it to em either, that's the more concerning part.
- LegitShady 4y ago
  its required to fill in your taxes, but also potentially abusive if the developer isn't honest, and probably not something steam wants on their platform.
- red-iron-pine 4y ago
  it's not illegal, but it sure is shady. handing out your SSN makes it easy for someone to try to open lines of credit, credit cards, loans, etc. in your name. You'd need other data, but that's often trivial. SSN also wasn't designed as a universal ID and has a few weaknesses, on top of being shoehorned into a role it wasn't meant to fill.
  - ryandrake 4y ago
    The USA should just bite the bullet and publish everyone's Social Security numbers. That way we can stop pretending they're some kind of secret password and finally force companies who don't want to be defrauded to stop using them. They should not be used for authentication in any way! It's crazy that non-secret information about me, like my SSN, birthday, home address, and mother's maiden name, can be used by anyone to prove that they are me.
- aidenn0 4y ago
  IANAL, but in cases where the SSN is just used as a unique identifier (rather than for tax purposes and/or social-services benefits), there are laws about having to offer people a different number. For example: in the US, drivers licenses are issued by state (what would be called a province anywhere else) governments, not the federal (i.e. national) government. My first drivers license used my SSN as my license number, but if I had asked, the state government would have been required to issue me a license with a different number. These laws were passed because it got to the point where just getting someones name and SSN were nearly sufficient to completely steal their identity.
  - andromeduck 4y ago
    US states are states are not provinces for the same reason EU member states are states and not provinces. It's also why the US Senate designed to represent states like the EU council, was never intended to be proportional.
    - aidenn0 4y ago
      Maybe this was true 200 years ago, but US state sovereignty has declined steadily

capableweb 4y ago

Is that... Illegal? /from someone who never lived in the US

dfxm12 4y ago
No. You might be surprised at all the forms that use SSN improperly/lazily as some form of unique identifier though.
- soupfordummies 4y ago
  IN the past 2 days I've encountered that both the cable and gas companies used mine to verify. I sure didn't give it to em either, that's the more concerning part.
LegitShady 4y ago
its required to fill in your taxes, but also potentially abusive if the developer isn't honest, and probably not something steam wants on their platform.
red-iron-pine 4y ago
it's not illegal, but it sure is shady. handing out your SSN makes it easy for someone to try to open lines of credit, credit cards, loans, etc. in your name. You'd need other data, but that's often trivial. SSN also wasn't designed as a universal ID and has a few weaknesses, on top of being shoehorned into a role it wasn't meant to fill.
- ryandrake 4y ago
  The USA should just bite the bullet and publish everyone's Social Security numbers. That way we can stop pretending they're some kind of secret password and finally force companies who don't want to be defrauded to stop using them. They should not be used for authentication in any way! It's crazy that non-secret information about me, like my SSN, birthday, home address, and mother's maiden name, can be used by anyone to prove that they are me.
aidenn0 4y ago
IANAL, but in cases where the SSN is just used as a unique identifier (rather than for tax purposes and/or social-services benefits), there are laws about having to offer people a different number. For example: in the US, drivers licenses are issued by state (what would be called a province anywhere else) governments, not the federal (i.e. national) government. My first drivers license used my SSN as my license number, but if I had asked, the state government would have been required to issue me a license with a different number. These laws were passed because it got to the point where just getting someones name and SSN were nearly sufficient to completely steal their identity.
- andromeduck 4y ago
  US states are states are not provinces for the same reason EU member states are states and not provinces. It's also why the US Senate designed to represent states like the EU council, was never intended to be proportional.
  - aidenn0 4y ago
    Maybe this was true 200 years ago, but US state sovereignty has declined steadily