Okay just a quick question i cant find an answer too!! When are you required to give out your social security number??? It seems there is an enormous push anymore to protect that number from id theft, i have even heard us government approved commercials warning you to guard it!! so when must you give it out, employer obviously, any others. I had to take a random drugtest the other day, a requirement for my license. I've been doing this for 18 years. most of the time the treat you like a criminal, and i had enough. so as i was filling out the paperwork they asked for my ssn, and i ignored the question. then later during the actual test, the woman/judge/medical peon asked again, and i told her it was not my policy to share that info. they had my D.O.B. and my license number that was sufficient. you shoulda seen the swivels on those necks!! she got rude and indignant, and announced this was a federal program and i had to give it up. i politely informed her that the feds also tell me not to give it out, and i didnt care if this was chinese and she was G.W. i wasnt giving her the number. then she pointed to a number from there old records and asked if this was it, and i told her i had no idea what that number was!!! so anybody know of a definitive list of times you must give up your ssn??? thanks. Dan

 

NEVER!!!!!



Pete


P.S.- How Ya Doin' Dan.....

 

When I'm asked to provide the SS# at drug testing I always put "On File" in the space provided. Sure I've gotten grief for it, but I tell them if they have a problem with it to see Human Resources. I encourage my guys to do it also to protect their number.

 

Good idea...sad part is mine was stolen from the HR department where I work, along with 33 other employees...they had hire a new office woman who ended up eating lunch at her desk and photocopying everyones ID info, then selling it on the internet.

Cost me a few headaches and no the employer only offered their sympathy...they aren't liable aparently if another employee steals the info.

 

It seems to me that your place of employment would have had her charged with stealing company documents. I know where I work, she would have been buried under the jail house. Maybe the owner was sleeping with the enemy.

 

Never in a place you want to do business with.
The military..have to, the bank..yeah,DMV..no choice
anyplace else ..go pound salt!

 

legally you must give your ss number to an employer, a bank when you open an account , and the DMV
I refuse to give it to anyone else and i dont give a hoot if its jesus christ

 

Yeah its still in the court system, after 2 and a half years...I work for a public school.

 

When I worked for the university as an undergraduate student, they mistakenly put a bunch of employee's SSN's on the internet and mine was included. I was pretty angry, had to order credit reports for a while, place an alert on my credit report, made it difficult using my bank, etc. A giant pain.

 

I collect SSN's from students in my class for the Community College. It is a free class funded by the Fed & their progress is tracked in order to receive funds. I don't like collecting it at all & tell the students why. If their student folder was lost, their address, phone # & SSN are lost too. Now that I am thinking about it, it is put on 5 different pieces of paper. Why can't it be put on one piece? I am going to find out before next semester.

This was a good thread, it got me thinking

 

I've run across this issue several times and got tired of getting a hard time when I say no. So, I started giving a fake one to those who I know have absolutely no legitimate need for it. It's only a couple digits off from my real number and I have it memorized as if it were my own. I've yet to have anyone call me on it which really shows how much they need it.....

I give it to the Air Force, my employer and anyone I am asking to borrow money from. Everyone else can go deficate in their hat.

 

Answer from Social Security:


The Social Security number was originally devised to keep an accurate record of each individual’s earnings, and to subsequently monitor benefits paid under the Social Security program. However, use of the number as a general identifier has grown to the point where it is the most commonly used and convenient identifier for all types of record-keeping systems in the United States.

Specific laws require a person to provide his/her number for certain purposes. While we cannot give you a comprehensive list of all situations where a number might be required or requested, a Social Security number is required/requested by:

* Internal Revenue Service for tax returns and federal loans;
* Employers for wage and tax reporting purposes;
* States for the school lunch program;
* Banks for monetary transactions;
* Veterans Administration as a hospital admission number;
* Department of Labor for workers’ compensation;
* Department of Education for Student Loans;
* States to administer any tax, general public assistance, motor vehicle or drivers license law within its jurisdiction;
* States for child support enforcement;
* States for commercial drivers’ licenses;
* States for Food Stamps;
* States for Medicaid;
* States for Unemployment Compensation;
* States for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families; or
* U.S. Treasury for U.S. Savings Bonds

The Privacy Act regulates the use of Social Security numbers by government agencies. When a federal, state, or local government agency asks an individual to disclose his or her Social Security number, the Privacy Act requires the agency to inform the person of the following: the statutory or other authority for requesting the information; whether disclosure is mandatory or voluntary; what uses will be made of the information; and the consequences, if any, of failure to provide the information.

If a business or other enterprise asks you for your number, you can refuse to give it. However, that may mean doing without the purchase or service for which your number was requested. For example, utility companies and other services ask for a Social Security number, but do not need it; they can do a credit check or identify the person in their records by alternative means.

Giving your number is voluntary, even when you are asked for the number directly. If requested, you should ask why your number is needed, how your number will be used, what law requires you to give your number and what the consequences are if you refuse. The answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to give your Social Security number. The decision is yours.

 

I like the "altered number" solution, because you can just lie and say you didn't properly remember it if it comes into question later. Switching a couple of digits would be very believable.
There is zero obligation to be honest to people who are trying to victimize you.

 

the CC I attended used our ssn's as student ID numbers

 

Same here. That was 20 years ago, and the world was a simpler place then. We used to write it as ID in all of our textbooks too. It was common to engrave it onto expensive items to assist the police in case your stuff was stolen and they later recovered it. Funny that the number itself is now more valuable than the items we engraved it on (and that I scratch back out as I find them). The health insurance for where I work used to use it as your ID number until very recently - had it printed right on the front of your insurance card.