Popular misconception here: That disclaimer meant possession of the card is not identification, since it doesn't have any verification like a photo. The number

Popular misconception here: That disclaimer meant possession of the card is not identification, since it doesn't have any verification like a photo. The number does represent identification, as far back as 1943. Source, the Straight Dope: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/141/why-does-my-old-social-security-card-say-it-cant-be-used-as-id http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/141/why-does-my-old... The SS card is a name-to-number mapping once the name is already identified by another document like a driver's license or passport.