Your Social Security Number Needs a Private Life

Our bank account balances may rise and fall, but one number that remains constant throughout our lives is our familiar, government-issued Social Security Number (SSN).

Your Social Security Number is used for a variety of purposes such as tracking income taxes, accrued government benefits, credit histories, and insurance claims, to name just a few. In the not-too-distant past, we took little effort to conceal our SSNs…after all, each one was unique and no one had yet invented a way to benefit from using an SSN that belonged to someone else. Unfortunately, as more and more critical personal and financial information was tracked using SSNs, criminals discovered there was a tempting range of fraudulent uses for “quality” SSNs they could steal.

Now, we treat our Social Security Numbers as highly confidential information. In fact, since they represent the potential to hijack our overall credit profile if stolen, keeping our SSNs private is even more important than protecting a credit card back account number. 

Who has valid reason to ask for your SSN? Your employer and financial institutions will need it for wage and tax reporting purposes. Other businesses may ask you for your SSN to do a credit check if you are applying for a loan or credit card, renting an apartment, or signing up for utilities. 

Sometimes, however, a business simply wants your SSN for general record keeping. If you are asked for your SSN, ask these questions before providing it:

• Why do you need it?
• How will it be used?
• How do you protect it from being stolen?
• What will happen if I don’t it to give you?

If you don’t provide your SSN, some businesses may not provide you with the service or benefit you want, and that is their option. Getting satisfactory answers to these questions will help you decide whether you want to share your SSN with the business…and the decision whether or not to share is yours.

Other SSN safety tips:

• Don’t carry your SSN card; leave it in a secure place.
• If your state uses your SSN as your driver’s license number, ask to substitute another number.

Do the same if your health insurance company uses your SSN as your policy number.