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Comment by briffle | Hacker News Reader

There is no problem with assigning people a number. the problem is that people start using that number as Verification, not as an identifier.

People treat your SSN as a password, when really, it just uniquely identifies you. Its basically an Email Address, not a password.

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> it just uniquely identifies you

not even. you need other data points, like DOB, to build enough uniqueness, and there are still many stories of collisions.

it just uniquely identifies you

Try working face-to-face in communities of recent, poor immigrants where five, six, even ten people using the same (likely purchased) SSN is not unusual. I've seen entire families using the same SSN.

Don’t use any service that considers SSN a verification.

Functionally useless advice if you ever have to deal with mobile networks, internet service providers, financial institutions, utilities' providers, any government, schools, universities, and the list goes on.

Those services take the SSN as proof of identity and not just identity?

Wouldn’t most people’s SSN’s be leaked already so using SSN rather than proper ID isn’t much better than nothing?

Yes, when you call customer service you’re usually asked to provide your SSN to verify you are who you are.

Some are finally requiring a PIN or passcode, but very few in my experience.

Providing you SSN identifies you no better than your email address or postal address. It’s not a secret number. There may be a provider that has a 2FA. It should be a cheap way for them to get more business.

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