permissible use of SS #

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by pat, Nov 6, 2000.

  1. pat

    pat Guest

    see 42 USCS § 405

    I will not attempt to list all the allowed uses, but will mention some of the more interesting ones which the federal statute allows:

    a SS# may be required of or used to identify:
    blood donors
    convicted felons
    labor unions
    etc. ad naseum
     
  2. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    FUNNY...MY SS CARD SAYS SOMETHING LIKE
    "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND INCOME TAX PURPOSES ONLY...NOT FOR ID" !!!!!!!

    (ISSUED IN THE 1970'S)?

    GUESS THE SS# CAN BE USED FOR ANYTHING NOW...SOME STATES USE IT FOR DRIVERS
    LICENSE #...HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET???

    COLORADO WANTED IT TO VOTE...I SAID NO WAY.
    THEY GAVE ME A FAKE 9XX-XX-XXXX NUMBER SO I COULD VOTE, HOW NICE OF THEM!
     
  3. RichGuy

    RichGuy Guest

    Thank You

    Thank you for the citation, the first I have ever seen. I find this subject interesting.
     
  4. RichGuy

    RichGuy Guest

    Something is Missing

    I just realized that something is missing from your list. Did you simply consider "applicants for credit" and "applicants for insurance" not interesting enough to list, or is violating their privacy not included among the legally permissible uses?
     
  5. pat

    pat Guest

    The Social Security Act

    You can look up the federal statute, and read it yourself. I provided the section of US Code in my previous post. It is difficult to summarize an entire law on a small card.
     
  6. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    RE: The Social Security Act

    How do you get there???
     
  7. pat

    pat Guest

    RE: Something is Missing

    Applicants for credit and insurance are permissible uses of a SS# under the Social Security Act. I did not include them because the section of the FCRA I posted dealt with permissible uses of consumer credit reports- credit, insurance, and employment (among others) and figured that everyone knows that a credit report uses a SS#.

    P
     
  8. r

    r Guest

    You can only be required to give your SS# when applying for employment or applying for credit, banking purposes or when you receive funds from another source other than your job that could be considered as income. You have a right to refuse for any other purpose.

    There was an attorney on MSNBC this weekend speaking about this very isse!
     
  9. pat

    pat Guest

    um...no

    You may be REQUIRED to give your ss# when donating blood. If you do not provide it, they may tell you to go home.
    If you are convicted of a felony, the authorities will track you by your ss#, period.
     
  10. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    RE: um...no

    If they want my blood bad enough, they will do it without my ss#, or I will walk out!!!
     
  11. RichGuy

    RichGuy Guest

    RE: Something is Missing

    You told GEORGE that your post was from the Social Security Act, but now tell me that it is from the FCRA and deals with credit reports. It "defies my imagination" (Mick Jagger,1965) to think that anyone would pull a credit report on a blood donor.
     
  12. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    RE: Something is Missing

    I guess that a state id card or drivers license cannot prove who you are???

    So if you have a good credit report you will drive better...not burn your house down...and you will give BETTER BLOOD!!!
     
  13. RichGuy

    RichGuy Guest

    Eureka! Selling Credit Reports

    Pat,

    Thank you for the citation, although I had to use 42 USC (not USCS) to find anything. Section 405 does mention blood donors, convicted felons, and potential jurors. It does not authorize use of SS numbers for credit or insurance purposes. In all fairness, I should mention that it does not explicitly prohibit such use either.

    There is, however, a provision in section 405 prohibiting authorized persons from selling lists of SS numbers to anyone. Authorized persons appears to include anyone who has access to such information, which would include CRA's. Therefore the information sold by CRA's, accessed by SS number, is illegally sold.

    ...unless CRA's are not authorized persons, in which case they are not authorized to possess such numbers. Whether this prohibits them from possessing such numbers is unclear to me. I would venture to say that unauthorized use is illegal use, even if not prohibited use.

    I believe that this proves that use of SS numbers by CRA's is illegal. QED: That which was to be demonstrated (has been demonstrated.)
     
  14. RichGuy

    RichGuy Guest

    Illegal Use for Permissible Pu

    The FCRA lists some permissible uses of credit reports, including credit and insurance. (I assume you're right on this. I'll read it later.)

    It is begging the question, however, to claim that this makes use of SS numbers in such reports legal. "Everyone knows that a credit report uses an SS number," but such use on a credit report has not been established to be legal. Illegal use of an SS numberon a report would still be illegal, even if the report were pulled for a permissible purpose.
     
  15. RichGuy

    RichGuy Guest

    Banking vs. Credit

    The legal use of SS numbers in banking is for income tax purposes: a bank account may earn interest on which income taxes must be paid. We need to confuse banking with credit to conclude that use of SS numbers is legal for credit granting purposes. Credit cards do not earn interest. Account agreements rule out payment of interest by a bank on negative balances.

    The IRS acknowledges that the two cases are different. It requires backup withholding certification for bank deposit accounts, but not for bank credit accounts.
     
  16. pat

    pat Guest

    USC vs. USCS

    a citation of 42 USC is the citation of the actual statute, which is probably available on more websites. 42 USCS is a citation for an annotated version of the statute- which includes both the statute and relevant references (citations) to relevant court decisions affecting (and thus effecting) the statute.
     

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