Patriot Bill To Remove SSN from IDs
June 26th, 2006 by Patriot
FINALLY, someone is thinking in our nation's Capitol. It's bad enough that 26.5 million veterans' social security numbers were stolen from the VA. Servicemen and women from every service are required to carry an identification card with us at all times. The card is used to access military posts, purchase items at the post exchanges and commissaries, enroll our children in youth centers and schools, write checks, work out, you name it.
But that ID card doesn't just tell the hundreds of people per week that we have to show it to what our names are. On the back of that card in bold font is our social security number. There are still many places on military bases where we are required to WRITE our SSN on checks, even though the military has gotten better about that. All it takes is a lost or stolen wallet and our identities are sold. To make matters worse, our family members are at double the risk. They carry identification cards with their SSN AND mine on them.
On top of that, our SSNs are used on leave requests, vehicle inspection checks, most training attendance sheets, and other documents the military generates. Many of these forms find their way into trash cans instead of shredded or disposed of properly.
Thankfully, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, convinced the Senate last week to press the Defense Department to stop putting Social Security numbers on military identification cards. Continue reading, but when you're done, please write your congressman and demand that they pressure the DoD to remove SSNs from our cards as well. The rest of the government agencies in this country have figured it out, it's about time the military did as well.
This makes the Senate bill similar to the House version of the defense measure, which also asks for a study on why Social Security numbers remain on ID cards without demanding removal of the number, which is a crucial piece of information for someone trying to illegally steal an identity.
“When the Department of Defense began using Social Security numbers on identification cards in 1967, identity theft was not a problem most Americans were worried about,” Hutchison said. “Electronic transactions were, for the most part, nonexistent and we did not have the kind of access to personal records that we have today.”
“By simply gaining access to someone’s Social Security number, a malicious person could attempt to open a line of credit, obtain a false driver’s license or completely steal another person’s identity,” he said. “Our military men and women should not have to worry about these problems while defending our country.”
efense officials have indicated they plan to drop the Social Security number from ID cards but have not said when this might happen.
Hutchinson said it should not be hard to do. “Social Security numbers are not included on driver’s license or passports. Colleges and universities are using generic numbers for student identification rather than Social Security numbers. It is time the Department of Defense provides this important safeguard to our troops,” she said.
Rumor is around the old admin center is the Corps is trying to move away from SSNs and back to Service Numbers. Not sure how much water that rumor could hold but it would be a welcome change after all the data loss/theft over the last few months.
Cpl M,
I think service numbers would be much better and wouldn't give thieves your SSN.
People should not be numbered like they are prisoners by anyone for any reason, especcially service men.
If you think you military ID is a problem then just think what will happen when the National ID (Real ID) is out there, it will have all your numbers(including personal account numbers) that anyone can access that has a RFID reader.
The National ID will be mandatory starting in May of 2008, millions will refuse it; is the government going to send the military to enforce punishment or death on those that refuse or are unable to accept it due to religious beliefs?
Thousands of people were born at home in rural areas without birth certificates, SSN or any other goverment documents, what about those?
Countries are using numbers to enslave it's people, it is horrible.
read Revalations 13 in the Bible sometime.
My advice is that removing SSNs from ID cards helps to thwart identity thieves. Giving of SSN should always be a verbal and voluntary act, in my opinion. Has the gov inadvertently been assisting identity theft? A thought. Geoff D.