The Social Security Number Protection Act . This bill has the support of the Clinton Administration, including Vice President Al Gore. It will stop the sale and purchase of Social Security numbers for profit and would prevent an anonymous third party from logging onto a website and buying a person's Social Security number. Today, the Federal government uses the Social Security number as a tax payer identification number, the Medicare number, and as a soldier's serial number. Many states use the Social Security number as the identification number on drivers licenses, fishing licenses, and other official records.
Banks use it to establish personal identification for credit.
Restricting access to Social Security numbers makes sense because a criminal who fraudulently obtains this de facto national identification number has the key unlocking a person's identity. The Identity Theft Protection Act . This legislation, endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission, gives consumers better tools to protect themselves from identity theft by giving everyone free annual credit reports, restricting the sale of personal information in credit reports, and requiring credit card issuers to advise consumers of change of address requests on their accounts. Refrain from giving personal information over the phone, through the mail, or the Internet unless you initiated the contact or know who you are dealing with. Keep items with personal information in a safe place, tear or shred charge receipts, copies of credit applications, bank checks and statements that are being discarded in the trash.