Many SSNs have been compromised already. The jig is up. It was never supposed to be an identity system but organisations keep insisting on using it as one. Even if they aren’t literally publicly available and easily obtainable, they should be treated as such.

https://constella.ai/verifying-the-national-public-data-brea...

That's not what GP said though.

The point was not to make them publicly available but treat them as if they had already leaked and allowed anyone to frame anyone else.

Visit a bus stop, pick up a stubbed out cigarette, leave it at the scene of your next crime.

1. Most people already share this data in the form of photos posted online.

2. So people don't treat it as a "secure secret," because we've been down this road more than once before.