5 ms·

> The US SSN is not guaranteed to be unique The cases you listed do not mean SSNs are not unique, unless there are people who share the same SSN. You can still

> The US SSN is not guaranteed to be unique The cases you listed do not mean SSNs are not unique, unless there are people who share the same SSN. You can still define a unique index for the SSN column. A column can be both nullable and unique as each null is different in SQL.

ars 2y ago
> unless there are people who share the same SSN That happens all the time. First of all people steal SSN's and use them (and you are not the police, so it's not your responsibility to do anything about that). Second people make up fake SSN's because they don't want to give you their SSN. People also make typo's, and you can end up with the same SSN. An SSN is not unique in the real world.
Kon-Peki 2y ago
EDIT - SSA claims that numbers are not recycled. But there are known cases where the same number has been assigned to multiple people. Note that in less than 100 years, more than half of all possible SSNs have already been used…
- bloopernova 2y ago
  So we need SSNv6? ;)
dqv 2y ago
> It’s not as uncommon as you might think. In fact, some 40 million SSNs are associated with multiple people, according to a 2010 study by ID Analytics. https://www.pcworld.com/article/424392/a-tale-of-two-women-same-birthday-same-social-security-number-same-big-data-mess.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/424392/a-tale-of-two-women-s...
- pseudosavant 2y ago
  Funny enough, I used to work at IDA. I’ll add that there is a huge difference between the SSN database that the Social Security Administration maintains, and the list of SSNs that have been associated with a person. Especially because it is very common to change a single digit of your SSN when performing credit fraud - because they’ve already burned their real one. Some people will have dozens of SSNs attached to them. IDA was very good at determining who a person is through the graphs that represent identities in our world (names, DOBs, phone numbers, addresses, SSNs, etc.)
cmiles74 2y ago
People also type them in wrong, so there's another thing: where is the data coming from.
- Tangurena2 2y ago
  > The most misused SSN of all time was (078-05-1120). In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher. > The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen" written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda's number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN "issued by Woolworth." https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html As late as the 1970s, the first 3 digits of your SSN told what office issued your number to you. And the next 2 digits told workers at that office what filing cabinet held your application. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v45n11/v45n11p29.pdf https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v45n11/v45n11p29.pdf

ars 2y ago

> unless there are people who share the same SSN That happens all the time. First of all people steal SSN's and use them (and you are not the police, so it's not your responsibility to do anything about that). Second people make up fake SSN's because they don't want to give you their SSN. People also make typo's, and you can end up with the same SSN. An SSN is not unique in the real world.

Kon-Peki 2y ago

EDIT - SSA claims that numbers are not recycled. But there are known cases where the same number has been assigned to multiple people. Note that in less than 100 years, more than half of all possible SSNs have already been used…

bloopernova 2y ago
So we need SSNv6? ;)

dqv 2y ago

> It’s not as uncommon as you might think. In fact, some 40 million SSNs are associated with multiple people, according to a 2010 study by ID Analytics. https://www.pcworld.com/article/424392/a-tale-of-two-women-same-birthday-same-social-security-number-same-big-data-mess.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/424392/a-tale-of-two-women-s...

pseudosavant 2y ago
Funny enough, I used to work at IDA. I’ll add that there is a huge difference between the SSN database that the Social Security Administration maintains, and the list of SSNs that have been associated with a person. Especially because it is very common to change a single digit of your SSN when performing credit fraud - because they’ve already burned their real one. Some people will have dozens of SSNs attached to them. IDA was very good at determining who a person is through the graphs that represent identities in our world (names, DOBs, phone numbers, addresses, SSNs, etc.)

cmiles74 2y ago

People also type them in wrong, so there's another thing: where is the data coming from.

Tangurena2 2y ago
> The most misused SSN of all time was (078-05-1120). In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher. > The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen" written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda's number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN "issued by Woolworth." https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html As late as the 1970s, the first 3 digits of your SSN told what office issued your number to you. And the next 2 digits told workers at that office what filing cabinet held your application. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v45n11/v45n11p29.pdf https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v45n11/v45n11p29.pdf