> That prohibits government agencies from requiring that a person give his/her > SSN as a condition of receiving the agency's services
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected this assertion in BOWEN v. ROY, 476 U.S. 693 (1986) -----Original Message----- From: Griff Palmer [mailto:gpalmer@;palmermania.com] Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2002 8:31 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Risk of using SS#s (last 4 digits) for authentication Computer Professionals for Social Responsiblity has a good FAQ on Social Security numbers at: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/SSN-History.html CPSR says the Privacy Act of 1974 is the principal federal statutory authority governing solicitation and use of Social Security numbers. That prohibits government agencies from requiring that a person give his/her SSN as a condition of receiving the agency's services, and from taking punitive action against people who refuse to divulge their SSNs. The 1974 Privacy Act doesn't place any such restrictions on private companies. For tax-reporting purposes, the IRS requires employers to gather employees' Social Security numbers. I'm sure there's a complex web of state statutes, case law, contract law, etc. that speak to what employers may and may not do with employees' SSNs. As a practical matter, using only the last 4 digits of an employee's SSN gives some measure of protection to the employee. It's important to remember, though, that a variety of personal financial services companies use the last 4 digits of a person's SSN as part of the identifying information that gives access to that person's account information, so there is a potential for harm from accidental release of even the last 4 digits of an employee's SSN. Griff Palmer
