Talk:Social Security number

message: What is the legality of giving a false SSN if the requester has no authority to request it?
~~  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Full Decent (talk • contribs) 00:50, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Legal

message: This section needs to be completely re-written. It actually contradicts itself. It starts out with:   
"The Area Number, the first three digits, is assigned by geographical region."   
But then as you move down:   
"On June 25, 2011, the SSA changed the SSN assignment process [... ] It eliminates the geographical significance of the first three digits of the SSN" 
So it is a mish-mash of history, out-of-date information, and at the very end the latest standard for generating SSNs. 
The Valid SSN section is better, but why does it start out with the history BEFORE the current? Wouldn't someone reading expect to get the current information and then a little history?     
Honestly we should just add a history section and be done with it. This entire article is a complete mess as it stands. Just give people the current information, and let them check the history section to see what was valid and in what year(s) it was valid for.     — Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.6.23.64 (talk) 17:26, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Found an official source confirming March 1972 as the month that the change occured. Social Security Administration website - Walkiped 03:08, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: SSN Structure

message: This article could use a discussion of the various oppositions to requiring US citizens to have a Social Security number.  For example, there are a number of cases in which people have challenged the social security number requirement as a violation of their First Amendment right to free practice of religion (they believe that the social security number is the Mark of the Beast from Revelation).
See Number of the Beast.
So, wait.. are these non-Christians who believe SSNs are the mark of the beast, a Christian concept, and so do not want them? Isn't that a little round-about?
Let's avoid this type of discussion, because they're stupid. 68.211.101.156 17:12, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Mark of the Beast

message: I have never seen a current social security card that identified whether someone was a US Citizen or not.  My own card just has my name and number.
Cards belonging to temporary non-immigrant workers such as H visa holders, as well as cards belonging to persons who have a temporary Employment Authorization Card (I-688B) while on some non-immigrant visa (F and K visas, for example) have the designation "not valid for work without INS authorization."
:Yep, I'm on a J-2 visa and mine has "Valid for work only with DHS Authorization". It does not carry any other designation.  vlad§inger  tlk  02:36, 10 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that the sample card shown in this article is either a counterfeit designed to be used by illegal immigrants or it was of an obsolete format.  Perhaps the card was like that years ago, but I doubt the SSA ever printed the word "US Citizen" on the card.  Searching the official www.ssa.gov website does not show this sample card.  On the front page of ssa.gov, the tiny iconic SSN card looks quite different from this sample.  Kowloonese 00:21, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

text: Probably pointless to comment this many years later, but no, that doesn't make the paragraph wrong. The fact that a restricted social security card along with an employment authorization document is ONE valid set of documents does not preclude you from presenting others. L spouses are required to obtain an EAD. Others, such as CFA citizens, can work based on the stamp on their I-94. Students working on campus require a properly endorsed I-20. The I-9 guidelines allow for all of these other documents, all of which constitute "DHS authorization" as required by the notation on the social security card. Stian (talk) 07:38, 29 July 2021 (UTC)
thread_title: US Citizen designation on sample card

message: In a discussion at The Daily WTF, some of the comments say the section is incorrect (for instance, the 800 series being used for some purposes). --cesarb 15:45, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Reference to the SSA's own website added.  Looks like this one's correct to me. If you can find something reputable that says the opposite, feel free to add it, but I'm afraid that a comment on a website doesn't cut it, even though I'm a fan of that one as well.  -FunnyMan 19:07, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Great, now that we have a source there's no doubt anymore. A link which can be found at that reference is even better:  seems to list all series ever issued (you can even notice the missing series number in the middle of the sequence). --cesarb 19:34, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Valid SSNs

message: under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 405(c)(2). 
Which section is it? Ojcit 00:01, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Never mind, guess I don't know my way around the legal system. Ojcit 00:02, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: legal code mismatch

message: The section talking about Mrs Hilda Whitcher and the Woolworths SSNs is taken verbatim from the SSA page at http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html - I'll grovel through the history and notify the "author". Eric TF Bat 11:41, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Copyvio in section on SSNs in advertising

message: I can't find any reason.
: Other than peoples' conspiratorial guesses, it seems like it's just a sequential ID number for the paper that the card is printed on, to keep track of blank cards.  Oddly, my employer wants to get a scan of the back of mine; I have no idea why (maybe there's a way to fraud-check using the relationship between them?).  (I also don't know what you're talking about with 'CAPS'.) —AySz88\^-^ 05:01, 22 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Question? What's the code for on the back of a social security card? And why all CAPS on my name?

message: Why does the article claim that
"SSNs used in advertising have rendered those numbers invalid." ?
Those numbers still refer to only one (living) person, right?
Wouldn't the same logic say that other unique identifiers, once they become widely known -- such as "George W. Bush, son of George H. W. Bush" -- would also become "invalid" ?
My understanding is that it is incorrect for me to claim *any* SSN other than my own -- whether or not that number has been used in advertising is irrelevant.
Or am I missing some obscure point of U.S. law?
--68.0.120.35 00:08, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It means that due to its use in advertising, the SSA officially "retired" the SSN in question to prevent it from being used in any capacity. Its invalidation was not the result of a natural process but rather a preventative measure by the SSA. -216.138.38.86 14:24, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: "invalid"

message: Which seems best?  Either rename this article to something like "US Social Security number" and create a stub for "Social Security number" with a general blah-blah and a link to this one, or else discuss all countries' social security numbers on this article (this might imply rephrasing many statements).  Question zero: which countries have social security numbers?  (I know France and Canada have them, but I have no idea whether it's the exception or the rule.) --Gro-Tsen 03:23, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I started to internationalize this article, but have undone my changes because I no longer agree that it is necessary.  The "See also" section includes links to equivalent numbers in other systems, which all seem to go by different names than this one.  I don't think there's any actual conflict, unless another country also calls its identifiers "Social Security numbers" --Sapphic 18:38, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The official name for the French number may be "numéro INSEE", but I've always heard of them referred to as "numéro de sécurité sociale" (even on forms they are called that way), and I very much doubt that not a single country has a national identifier which goes by a direct translation of "social security number".  Besides, both of us found it unclear that there were other articles talking about other countries: this suggests that at least something should be done (just having a "See Also" section at the end is not enough).  I think the simplest thing to do is rename the present page to add "(United States)" at the end of the title and create a "Social Security number" disambiguification page pointing to the various articles for various countries.  Alternatively, mention at the beginning of the article that it deals with the US Social Security Number and link to the other pages or to a disambiguification page. --Gro-Tsen 01:18, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The Icelandic ssn is called "kennitala" but would be referred to as an social security number via English speaking countries.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.208.203.71 (talk) 07:26, 9 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Worldwide view needed

message: Wiki mentions taxation purposes within the first paragraph.  A better description might be for benefits and record keeping.
The Social Security number (SSN) was originally devised to keep an accurate record of each individual’s earnings, and to subsequently monitor benefits paid under the Social Security program. However, use of the SSN as a general identifier has grown to the point where it is the most commonly used and convenient identifier for all types of record-keeping systems in the United States.
examples:
* Internal Revenue Service for tax returns and federal loans,
* Employers for wage and tax reporting purposes,
* States for the school lunch program,
* Banks for monetary transactions,
* Veterans Administration as a hospital admission number,
* Department of Labor for workers’ compensation,
* Department of Education for Student Loans,
* States to administer any tax, general public assistance, motor vehicle or drivers license law within its jurisdiction,
* States for child support enforcement,
* States for commercial driver’s licenses,
* States for Food Stamps,
* States for Medicaid,
* States for Unemployment Compensation,
* States for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families,
* U.S. Treasury for U.S. Savings Bonds, 
If you would like to see the full description go to the social security website http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/ 
search: When am I legally required to provide my Social Security number?
patm1975~
You are legally required to provide a social security number under the Internal Revenue Code, in various circumstances. Citations added to the article. Famspear (talk) 20:00, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: SSN purpose

message: A discussion on the scalability of SSNs would be nice.  How many can the system support?  What percentage of the numberspace is in use?  Are old numbers reused after someone dies?  etc. Afabbro 05:34, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: See question #20 at Social Security History: Frequently Asked Questions.  They do not reissue numbers, have issued over 420 million numbers as of January 14, 2008, and the current number system will last for "several generations into the future". —MJBurrage(T•C) 20:22, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Scalability

message: If Social security numbers were issued beginning in 1937, how come the "Social Security Death Index" has numbers for people who died as early as 1899?--71.194.116.228 01:10, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: SSDI

message: I deleted the following link from the external links section:
* Frequently Asked Questions on SSNs and Privacy
The link was added to the article on June 7. The site purports to provide factual answers to questions about Social Security Numbers and privacy, but makes absurd claims such as "[the IRS is] willing to shoot you for resisting arrest. They have a separate court system, which follows a different set of rules and procedures." The site therefore fails to meet Wikipedia:External links criteria, as it misleads the reader by providing factually inaccurate material. — Mateo SA (talk | contribs) 21:23, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: External links

message: How do I find out what mine is without usinng credit cards? 216.165.236.141 04:13, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: I forgot my social security number...

message: ...the SSN was, initially and very briefly, a serial number.  The storyteller said he knew a guy who was a child of a higher-up at the Social Security office at the time numbers stared to be handed out, and that his SSN was 7.  Not 000-00-0007, but just the number 7, meaning the seventh person in the system.  Anyone know if there's any truth to that? A2Kafir 22:01, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You mean he was 007? :)  —  Rickyrab | Talk 08:22, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: I heard a story that...

message: What does Area Code 957 mean?
I (German) received a document with the title "Virginia Nonresident Income Tax Return" which says:
Your Social Security Number: 957 - 70 - ####   (replaced last digits with ####)
I never lived in the US - I just did an investment there.
79.210.30.138 (talk) 23:07, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If it begins with a 9 then it's not an SSN.   It's a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) which is for non-residents and others who aren't eligible for an SSN but need to pay taxes on US income.  See the IRS website TimBuchheim (talk) 00:17, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: SSN Area Code 957?

message: I've been doing a lot of work on my pilot article Service number (United States) and have this very simply question - how long can the SSA give new numbers?  When you get right down to it, there are 999,999,999 possible numbers to issue.  How many people have lived and died in the US since the 1930s?  I think it would something like half to two thirds of a billion.  Will the SSA ever run out of numbers? -OberRanks (talk) 03:30, 11 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: See the earlier section #Numbers reissued/expire?, and Questions 19 and 20 in the provided link http://www.ssa.gov/history/hfaq.html.  As of January 2008, there have been 420 million numbers assigned and around 5.5 million new numbers are assigned each year.  While this isn't infinite, there are plenty of numbers for future use (roughly another century). Hoof Hearted (talk) 20:44, 9 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: How can they not run out?

message: According to Mike Gogulski, a former US citizen who deliberately gave up his citizenship, he uploaded an image of his former card and resolved any privacy issues with administrators. However, that image has been defaced (it can be accessed here as well as being on that page). Can it be restored and further defacement prevented? PMLawrence (talk) 08:25, 25 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Mike Gogulski example

message: The youngest person to receive a social security number was 4 months old, who was this?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.238.55.68 (talk) 00:04, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: All my kids got theirs as soon as they were born. I think they all, or most, beat the 4 months record. Where did that ever come from anyway? Presidentbalut (talk) 01:35, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  The youngest person to receive a social security number was 4 months old, who was this? 

message: When the social security number was introduced in 1936, it was a federal license to engage in interstate commerce. This license scheme began in November 1936 in order to give Congress free-reign under the umbrella of "regulating interstate commerce." By virtue of the number the account holder is presumed to be a "person" who is engaged in congressionally controlled and regulated commerce.
After the Supreme Court derailed the Railroad Retirement Act and “Schechtered” the National Industrial Recovery Act in May 1935 and fearing the same fate for the Social Security bill and other New Deal legislation pending in Congress, Roosevelt summoned Attorney General Homer Cummings to the White House and demanded Cummings find a solution for achieving the purpose of the New Deal; namely, bringing all industries under control of a central government.  Roosevelt’s New Deal had taken a severe beating by the Court and he expected the attorney general to stop the bleeding.  To help stop the New Deal bleeding, Cummings organized a group consisting of six men and one woman, all loyal to the president and all dedicated to Roosevelt’s New Deal ideology.  The seven member group included Homer S. Cummings,  Attorney General; Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor; Harry L. Hopkins, Federal Emergency Relief Administrator; Harold L. Ickes, United States Secretary of the Interior; Robert F. Wagner, United States Senator; Joseph Taylor Robinson, United States Senator and John G. Winant,  Republican governor from New Hampshire.  They called their secret group the “Committee of Seven.”  
With the blessing of Roosevelt, the Committee of Seven immediately set out in secret to work on different scenarios to implement Roosevelt’s agenda.  One proposed scenario called for amending the Constitution to empower Congress to regulate hours and conditions of labor and to establish minimum wages in any employment and to regulate all industry and business in commerce whether interstate or intrastate.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.2.53.160 (talk) 16:47, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Social Security Number is a license to engage in interstate commerce 

message: The article states "Social Security was originally a universal tax..." which is patently false.  Historically, there were many kinds of employment exempt from social security tax (state and local employment, for example), and the number of exemptions has been reduced dramatically over time since social security was first instituted in the 1930s.  This needs to be fixed, but I am not a contributor to Wikipedia, so I'm not in a position to edit the entry. But I thought it worthwhile to post this warning.   128.206.97.222 (talk) 22:45, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Serious Error 

message: While the article suggests that the SSN is a de facto national identification number, there is a problem with this.  From what I understand, most state's social service agencies will require more than the SSN to provide access to social services.  They require the physical card.  (Whether this is legal or not is another matter.)  Unfortunately, I don't know any sources that discuss this thoroughly to add to the article.  Does anyone else?
A similar example would be I-9 forms, where knowing a social security number is not identification, but providing the card is. Thelema418 (talk) 04:00, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Card required  

message: SSNs are a US-specific creation; there's no need to put "United States" as a h1 in the article. If the term was used in multiple countries, then changing the title would be reasonable. However, since it isn't, MOS:TITLES says we shouldn't be needlessly specific. LFaraone 16:07, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: "If the term was used in multiple countries...However, since it isn't"   Apokrif (talk) 16:50, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

text: Regarding this edit comment: this article is about social security numbers, not about the English phrase "Social Security number". Apokrif (talk) 16:53, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: As edited, the article now has no lead, and only one top-level section heading. Making the article more comprehensive would be great, but your changes just make it look inconsistent with the rest of the encyclopedia. LFaraone 16:58, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  Perhaps a renaming to Social Security number (United States) or Social Security number in the United States would be better. Anyway, it should be explicitly stated somewhere that an article is about the situation in one country only. Apokrif (talk) 17:08, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: The lead pretty clearly stated that this article covered SSNs "In the United States". Moving to a new name would be fine, but we'd need to have something substantive to put in for "social security number", plus have a bot fix the 200+ links to this article.   LFaraone 17:51, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  "The lead pretty clearly stated that this article covered SSNs "In the United States"" Rather, the former version implied that SSNs were something specific to the US. Apokrif (talk) 17:58, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  "United States" heading 

message: There should be a section that discusses the legalities of using multiple, made-up, purchased, and other people's SS numbers. There has been new Federal ruling that using other SS numbers for work and credit is legal and not considered fraud. So long as you use your real name, and intend to pay your bills. Generally associated with illegal migrants, but not limited to them. Presidentbalut (talk) 18:10, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Legality of Use of Multiple/Made-Up SS Numbers? 

message: 2013-09-26 - Hackers were able to steal nearly 3.1 million date-of-birth records and over a million social security numbers, widely considered a weak point in online security.
—  Ark25  (talk) 02:25, 26 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Biggest thefts of SSN's 

message: List of Social Security Area Numbers was nominated for deletion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Social Security Area Numbers. In the AfD, editors have proposed merging the list and other sourced content to this article. Cunard (talk) 07:08, 4 December 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Social Security Area Numbers]] 

message: The table shows number range 587–665 as issued in "California (Southern California, presumably)", but this cannot be correct. My SSN starts with 595, issued in 1986, and my daughter's starts with 593, issued right after she was born in 1997, both from Florida.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kbigdawg1 (talk • contribs) 14:57, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incomplete / incorrect Social Security Area Numbers list