According to essays written by people such as George Rosenthal and other survivors of the Holocaust, it has been determined that tattooing numbers on people as a means of identification was detrimental to their mental well-being. Well, welcome to the year 2002.
Your parents could have saved themselves the trouble of picking out a name for you, when all they really needed to do was pick out their favorite nine digits. Although many of us are unaware, in today's society all we are is a number, and frankly, I would much rather have my social security number tattooed on my backside than be forced to participate in the current system.
My newfound "enthusiasm" for our federal government's policy came when I found out that someone else was using my social security number. There could be one other Jackie Black running around, or there could be 210. I don't know, and by the looks of things, I'll never find out.
I was made aware of this problem when I tried to open up a phone line for my apartment. When I called Verizon, the local phone company, an associate informed me that there was someone else under my social security number. For security purposes, they couldn't disclose this person's identity, but merely told me to take it up with one of the three credit bureaus, Experian, Transunion or Equafax, because they couldn't help me.
I did. The only problem was that every possible number I called was merely an automated system that told me that the social security number that I entered into my touch tone phone didn't match the name that I was given. Thanks for the help. I then got in touch with the Social Security Hotline. I was finally able to talk to a woman, who was very nice, but not very helpful. The only thing that she was able to do was mail me information on how to prevent identity fraud and keep my wallet safe. While it was a lovely pamphlet, the fraud had already been committed, and I never lost my wallet.
That seems to be a common misconception in the eyes of the public. You don't need to lose your wallet for someone to use your social security number. According to the Federal Trade Commission, no one should give out their personal information on the phone, through the mail, or via the internet, unless "you know who you're dealing with."
How are you supposed to know who you're dealing with? In the case of a company like Verizon, there isn't any alternative. I wanted to bring my personal information down to one of their public offices to get things straightened out. The only problem was, there isn't one in the state of New York. All their business is conducted over the phone.
In case you're wondering, you can't walk down to your local credit bureaus, either. After dealing with their automated telephone system, you are advised to mail your personal information to the address given at the end of the recording. How am I supposed to know if my information is really getting to the appropriate people? If you were a really paranoid person, much like myself, you might think that Equafax could just be the post office box of some well-established criminal.
So, I had already called Verizon numerous times, sent my information to the "credit bureaus," and talked to the people at the Social Security Hotline. I figured that my next appropriate action would be to go to my local police department. Right?
Wrong. I couldn't file any sort of report without the culprit's name, account number or address. This really makes perfect sense, but the phone company wouldn't disclose any of that information to me, and the credit bureaus weren't exactly punctual in their eight-to-10-day promise of delivery. So I couldn't file a report with the police until I received my credit reports, and one month later, I'm still waiting.
So my problem not only lies with the impersonality of the current time in which we live, but also with the present technology. It seems to me that we surrender our social security number for anything short of purchasing a cheese sandwich. Companies ask for your social security number because it makes it easier for them to process information. One would rather type in the nine digits of your social security number than the twenty or so letters in your name.
According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a company is allowed to use your social security number "If you apply for credit, insurance, employment, or to rent an apartment." Your number would then be used to obtain a credit report on your credit history. Why does your local phone company need your social security number then? It beats me.
Unfortunately, a lot of companies are guilty of this. What is one to do? I don't know. If the government proposes a bill to make babies get their social security number tattooed on them at birth, or perhaps a scanable bar code placed somewhere on their body, I'll be the first to sign up. It may have a psychological impact on the youth of America, but even though our number isn't blatantly written on our bodies, let's not kid ourselves. At least this way, no one could deny that my social security number belonged to me.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
