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 havin

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.