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Social Security data is mostly public information, de facto if not literally. Lexis-Nexis has effectively maintained a mirror of SSA for many decades that proba
by jandrewrogers 1y ago
Social Security data is mostly public information, de facto if not literally. Lexis-Nexis has effectively maintained a mirror of SSA for many decades that probably has higher data quality than the original. SSA inexplicably changed my basic immutable information many years ago but the process of getting it fixed is so onerous that I've basically given up at this point.
The amount of theater around Social Security numbers is baffling.
- SoftTalker 1y agoWe used to print them on personal checks. They weren’t considered to be any kind of secret until the internet happened.
- mouse_ 1y agoTry 1989, with the advent of the standardized credit score.
- CaliforniaKarl 1y agoBefore I started college I had to create an account in University systems. Doing so involved making a telnet connection to a random server, and providing my Social Security Number. That was fine then. It is no longer fine. Things change.
- roxolotl 1y agoIt’s not really baffling. Banks use knowledge of them as proof of identity. Obviously that’s a horrible idea and was explicitly advised against by the social security administration. We’re in a world where the security is necessary regardless of whether it should be in an ideal world.