Social Security

The social security number was created in 1936 as a way to track workers' earnings and eligibility benefits. Today, more than 277 million persons have a unique social security number, and these numbers are used for myriad purposes unrelated to social security. Both private businesses and government agencies often ask people for their social security numbers, in some cases because they are required to, in others because they are a convenient way to track and exchange information. Perceived widespread sharing of personal information and instances of identity theft have heightened public concern about the use of social security numbers. This testimony describes (1) federal laws and regulations directing the numbers' use, (2) the nonfederal purposes for which the number is used, and (3) what businesses and state government believe the impact would be if federal laws were passed to limit the use of social security numbers.

GAO noted that: (1) the federal government, states and local governments, and private businesses all widely use SSNs; (2) in the case of the federal government, a number of laws and regulations require the use of SSNs for various programs, but some also impose limitations on how these SSNs may be used; (3) however, no federal law imposes broad restrictions on businesses' and state and local governments' use of SSNs when that use is unrelated to a specific federal requirement; (4) governments and businesses frequently use SSNs to identify and organize individuals' records; (5) some may also use SSNs to exchange information with other organizations to verify information on file, to coordinate benefits or services, or to ensure compliance with federal laws; (6) for example, by sharing information about applicants for the Supplemental Security Income program, the Social Security Administration can identify individuals whose benefits should be reduced, such as those in prison; (7) some information brokers use SSNs to retrieve the large amount of personal information on individuals that they collect and sell; (8) public concern over the availability of personal information has encouraged some to consider ways to limit using SSNs to disclose such information; (9) however, officials from both private businesses and government have stated that if the federal government passed laws that limited their use of SSNs, their ability to reliably identify individuals' records would be limited as would their subsequent ability to administer programs and conduct data exchanges with others; and (10) nonetheless, some state agencies and businesses have voluntarily taken measures to limit their disclosures of SSNs.