[TriLUG] Identity Theft (was Re: Security)

[Paul Jones]

this conflates two completely different things. 

first about SSN and how it can be used. the common misconception is that 
SSNs were/are to be used only for reporting social security etc. this is 
because SScards in the early days were being used as ids for everything 
from check cashing to buying beer. So in 1946...

from the SSA pages http://www.ssa.gov/history/hfaq.html

Q21: When did Social Security cards bear the legend "NOT FOR
IDENTIFICATION"?

A: The first Social Security cards were issued starting in 1936, they did 
not have this legend. Beginning with the sixth design version of the card, 
issued starting in 1946, SSA added a legend to the bottom of the card 
reading "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PURPOSES -- NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION." This 
legend was removed as part of the design changes for the 18th version of 
the card, issued beginning in 1972. The legend has not been on any new 
cards issued since 1972.

the second is about the opt-in and opt-out in financial institutes' 
ability to share customer data between their different divisions -- i 
think but Robby's note is hard to parse for this last.

On 19 May 2002, Robby Dermody wrote:

+If I remember correctly, the SSN originally came with the promise from
+our 'gobment' (basically worthless these days) stating that it would
+only be used for government-related activities, and there was
+legislation protecting from its use in the corporate sector and
+elsewhere.
+
+Well a few years ago it seems that legislation was overturned (was it
+during the Clinton administration?) due to heavy corporate lobbying.
+
+I'd love to become a blank (I thought/think one still can opt-out of the
+social security program altogether, but I've heard the spooks come after
+you (much like if you opt-out of paying your other taxes) and lets face
+it -- having a social security number is so darn necessary these days,
+as John had stated earlier.)
+
+What makes thing very scary is how easily one can obtain these social
+security numbers, which hold such great importance in our society. The
+latest example has been that fiasco with the Ford records on 13,000 or
+so customers.
+
+Robby
+
+On Sun, 2002-05-19 at 12:49, John Franklin wrote:
+> On Fri, May 17, 2002 at 12:28:08PM -0400, Andrew C. Oliver wrote:
+> > M. Mueller wrote:
+> > 
+> > >On Friday 17 May 2002 11:31 am, <Andrew C. Oliver> wrote:
+> > >>Lets talk likelyhood per amount of effort.  Its fairly unlikely I'd be a
+> > >>target due to the pure lack of gain.  
+> > >>
+> > >
+> > >Identity theft is the concern.  Unsecure wireless networks could provide 
+> > >enough information about a person to impersonate them.  By impersonating 
+> > >someone you can get a line of credit and leave the real indentity owner 
+> > >with the responsibility of paying off the bills.  
+> > >
+> > And the amount of effort you'd need to go through to get this out of my 
+> > wireless network versus just walk by and pick up my garbage kind of make 
+> > me less concerned about that.
+> 
+> It happened to my sister.  She ordered checks through the bank and they
+> never showed up.  Turns out someone stole them (at the printer's, IIRC) 
+> and starting using them.  She notified the bank and closed the account
+> immediately, but that didn't stop a number of items from showing up on
+> her credit report.  It took months for the police to finally arrest the
+> woman.
+> 
+> Identity theft is a serious concern, but there are so many ways to have
+> your identity stolen that the only real way to protect yourself is to
+> become a blank, buy everything with cash, and never use your SSN.  Since
+> we need to use our SSN to get a job and file tax returns, we can't
+> really isolate ourselves.
+> 
+> Privacy is a huge issue.  Politically, it'll take a major failure
+> somewhere before it takes a front stage position.  When it does,
+> technology solutions that protect privacy will become all the rage.  The
+> crux of the technology problem is that anything that can be made can be
+> forged.  Your signature can be forged.  A card with a magnetic strip or
+> a chip can be duplicated.  Biometrics?  Fooled with gummi bears.  (was
+> that article posted here, or did I see in on Another List?)
+> 
+> Sadly, it's a situation that doesn't really need new technology, it
+> needs the systems in place to work as intended.  None of the checks
+> written by the woman who stole my sister's checks should have been
+> accepted.  The signature was nowhere near a match.
+> 
+> 
+> jf
+> -- 
+> John Franklin
+> franklin at elfie.org
+> ICBM: 35°43'56"N 78°53'27"W
+> _______________________________________________
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+> TriLUG Organizational FAQ:
+>     http://www.trilug.org/~lovelace/faq/TriLUG-faq.html
+

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                             Paul Jones
                    "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!"
http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/ at the Site Formerly Known As MetaLab.unc.edu
  pjones at ibiblio.org   voice: (919) 962-7600     fax: (919) 962-8071
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