socialsecuritycard

 

As of today, over 453 million Social Security Numbers (SSN) have been issued to U.S. citizens. Originally issued in 1936, the SSN was created in order to track individuals who received social security tax benefits.  Throughout the years, businesses, agencies, and other entities began using the number as the primary way to identify a citizen. Also, banks and credit agencies use the number to check the financial history of an individual. The 9-digit number was an excellent idea for human tracking at the beginning, but unfortunately now the numbers has become a gateway to identity theft.

 

How SSN’s are created? The 9-digit number is composed of the following:

 

  • “Area Number” – the first three digits represent the place/state in which the SSN was established (or applied for); not the city/state in which an individual was born – as contrary belief. But after 1972, this number now represent the geographical region that the card was issued in.
  • “Group Number” – the next two digits represent the numerical group 01-99; for filing purposed, the “area numbers” are broken down into these numerical sub-groups. According to SSA.gov,“…for area numbers starting with 527 there would be 99 subgroups, one for every number starting with 527-01, and one for every number starting with 527-02, and so on. This was done back in 1936 because in that era there were no computers and all the records were stored in filing cabinets. The early program administrators needed some way to organize the filing cabinets into sub-groups, to make them more manageable, and this is the scheme they came up with.”
  • “Serial Number” – the last four digits represent a consecutive number from 0001-9999.

 

At the start, your SSN number was only given to citizens after they applied for one. Citizens would have to contact a Social Security office and fill out an application to apply. At one point, only adults were assigned numbers. Eventually, it became a mandatory requirement for ALL individuals – making it necessary to be given a SSN at birth. This came about in 1987 after the Tax Reform Act of 1986.  The Social Security Administration devised a “at-birth” process in which parents would have to select “YES” or “NO” on their child’s birth certificate. Once the birth certificate is completed, it would then be submitted to the vital statistics office and on to the SSA. It is then the SSA administers a number and issues a card for the newborn.

 

So, essentially, it is at birth that people may become subject to unwarranted stolen identity. With the on-shoot of thousands of identify theft cases, the government and companies have put in place systems to fight against this huge problem. But, these systems have not proven to be fool-proof. Thousands of Americans are victims of identity theft. So, it is imperative that individuals check their credit reports once a year and review it for any falsehoods. Each credit agency (i.e. Experian, Trans Union, and Experian) houses a department which focuses strictly on these type of cases. They can assist individuals in furthering the investigation and erasing the problem areas from their credit report all together.

 

With ongoing technological advances, hopefully one day the government will devise a way so that cards wouldn’t have to be issued. Many people have a hard time remembering their numbers and it isn’t a good practice to walk around with your card (especially if you get robbed for your wallet or something).  If the SSA can develop a innovative way that would combat those two issues, that will be a joy to many newborns and Americans who has been victims to identity fraud.