However, where did the myth that there are no restrictions on the private use of the US Social Security Number (SSN) come from? I think it's questionable because there are references to this in books by Japanese experts. There were fewer restrictions at one time, so perhaps the impression from that time has taken on a life of its own?
History of the SSN
The history of the SSN is best documented in documents from the Social Security Administration (SSA), which issues the SSN. Social Security Number Policy Chronology [0]. Its roots date back to the Social Security Act of 1935 (PL 74-271), which did not mention a "number" but authorized the creation of a record-keeping system. Numbers did not appear until the following year, when Treasury Decision 4704 required that an account number be assigned to every employee covered by the Social Security program. As a result, between November 1936 and June 11, 1937, approximately 6 million people were assigned SSNs. Then, in 30, Executive Order 3000 required federal agencies to use the SSN in their system of identifying individuals.
Meanwhile, tax-related numbers first appeared in 1961. The Internal Revenue Code Amendments made it necessary to include a taxpayer identification number when filing tax returns, and the following year, the Internal Revenue Service decided to adopt the SSN as the taxpayer identification number.
In addition, in 1970, the Bank Records and Foreign Transactions Act required banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, and securities firms to obtain SSNs for all their customers, and also required financial institutions to file reports with the Internal Revenue Service that included customer SSNs for all transactions over $10,000.
Then, in 1972, the Social Security Amendments of 1972 provided SSNs to legal aliens and everyone who receives funds from the federal government and also required children to be issued SSNs when they first enroll in school.
Although the SSN had seemingly been widely adopted, the Privacy Act, enacted in 1974 and effective September 1975, 9, imposed restrictions on government use of the SSN. Specifically,
- No government may deny benefits because an SSN has not been provided.
- When government agencies request an SSN , they state whether it is mandatory or voluntary.
(Incidentally, this was the first case to mention local government use of SSNs.)
Additionally, the 1976 Act defines unlawful disclosure or request of an SSN as a felony.
Interestingly, 1978 was the year that applications for SSNs finally required verification of age, citizenship, and other personal information.
Finally, on August 1987, 8, an experiment in assigning SSNs to newborns began in New Mexico, and the experiment has since expanded to all 17 states, as well as New York City, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico.
Its use gradually expanded thereafter, and in 1990, the SSN of dependents aged 1 or older was required to be entered on the dependent claim for tax returns.
Restrictions on use of SSN
In this way, the use of SSNs spread because of their convenience, but it seems that a turning point in this trend came around 1998. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 was enacted, which shows that this was starting to become a problem. Since then, restrictions on use have been gradually increased. Finally, in 2007, the federal government decided to reduce unnecessary use of SSNs as much as possible, and had each ministry and agency draw up a plan to do so. (Example:Department of Defense Social Security Number Reduction Plan [3]
At the same time, laws restricting private businesses were introduced. These laws were imposed not at the federal level but at the local level. Here are some examples.
Arizona (2005)[1]
- Prohibition on disclosure of SSNs to the public
- Prohibition of printing on government and civilian identification documents
- Technical restrictions on online SSN transmission
- Prohibition on printing SSNs on mail to Arizona residents
- Businesses that continue to use SSNs must disclose to consumers how they have used the SSN each year and provide consumers the ability to opt out.
- Prohibition of printing SSN on invoices, etc.
- Prohibiting printing of SSNs on documents or identification required for the purchase of goods or services
- Companies that hold SSNs or personal information should contact the individuals in question if such information is leaked.
Colorado (2004) [1]
- State prohibitions against collection of SSNs
- Prohibition of listing SSN on identification documents
New York (2008)[2]
- Any "number" derived from the SSN is eligible
- Intentionally disclosing the "number" is prohibited
- Prohibition of the inclusion of "numbers" or parts of "numbers" on cards for obtaining services or entering places
- Prohibition of use of "number" for authentication
- Institutions that hold the "number" must minimize employee access to the "number."
There are other things, but I'm really tired so I'll stop here. It's already widely used, and the United States is a country where it is very difficult to regulate private citizens, so it can't be banned all at once, so it feels like they're taking indirect measures. If you prohibit it from being written on ID cards and require usage reporting and opt-out, you can restrict it quite a bit.
Overall, I think this was the trend in the United States when it came to SSNs.
- To properly manage your social security, you need to manage your accounts properly.
- To do this, you need to create an account number.
- The numbers can be used to collect taxes properly and limit benefits.
- Yes, fraud (such as duplicate claims for dependents) has decreased dramatically!
- (Expanded use)
- (The emergence of the Internet)
- That's bad. ID fraud is rampant...
- Reduce SSN usage at all costs! (←here) [4]
This is just my general impression, but it seems like things were running smoothly in the "paper" era, but with the advent of the Internet it has become a breeding ground for crime.
So that was about the regulations on SSNs in the United States.
(references)
[0] Social Security Number Policy Chronology, http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/ssnchron.html
[1] epic.org, “Social Security Numbers”, http://epic.org/privacy/ssn/
[2] Joens Day, “New York Enacts Social Security Number Protection Law”, 2006, http://www.jonesday.com/newsknowledge/publicationdetail.aspx?publication=3778
[3] Department of Defense, “Social Security Number Reduction Plan“, http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/DTM-07-015.pdf
[4] Incidentally, South Korea has the same situation. They are currently working to reduce the use of resident registration numbers. See the Personal Information Protection Act of South Korea.