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Why are social security numbers generated? That seems necessary for supporting only dubious kinds of behavior.

Aren't SSNs only useful for banking/credit-type services? (Perhaps someone can enlighten me.)

I can think of several good reason, but the two main ones are: Testing and to use at registration-burden websites that collects personal information as their business model.

My guess is because they are also geo-dependent. Your fake person gets a valid SSN for where they are from.

Eh, SSNs aren't linked to location in any usable way. Obviously your SSN will not change when you move cross-country (so they're not linked to current address), and I think they're only based on the mailing address entered when the card was applied for, which may not even be where you were born.

Geo-dependent, as in across the otherside of the globe maybe...

Nope; I moved out of the US 8 years ago and my SSN remains the same. My daughters both have US SSNs and they've never lived there; the younger one hasn't even visited the US once yet. If they do live there someday, they'll still have the same SSNs.

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