From: <cef2103@columbia.edu>
  To  : <cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
  Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 17:50:47 -0400

Easy Access to SS Numbers

Hey everyone,

Here's an article about how easy it is to find Social Security
numbers on the web.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/washpost/20050404/ts_washpost/a23686_2005apr3

I wonder how many identities will be stolen and how many fradulent
accounts opened before credit card companies, insurance agents, and
universities realize that Social Security numbers are no longer a
good "secret" identifier for people. It seems like a person's
Social Security number now is almost as easy to find as their name.
(The other identifiers companies use, such as mother's maiden name,
birthdate, etc. are probably not hard to locate either.) I wonder
how long it will take before companies realize that another system
is necessary if they want to be sure of people's identities.

~Caitlin


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