In the United States, the Social Security number ( SSN ) is a nine-digit number issued to US citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents (who work) under section 205 ( c) (2) of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 USC Ã,§Ã, 405 (c) (2) . This number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent body of the United States government. Although the primary purpose is to track individuals for Social Security purposes, Social Security numbers have become the de facto national identification number for taxation and other purposes.
Social Security Number can be obtained by submitting Form SS-5, Application for Social Security Card Number.
Video Social Security number
Histori
The Social Security Number was first issued by the Social Security Administration in November 1935 as part of the New Deal Social Security program. In three months, 25 million numbers were issued.
On November 24, 1936, 1,074 of the country's 45,000 post offices were designated as "typing centers" for typing Social Security cards which were then sent to Washington, DC On December 1, 1936, as part of a publicity campaign for the new program, Joseph L. Fay of The Social Security Administration selected records from the top of the first 1,000 pile of notes and announced that the first Social Security number in history was awarded to John David Sweeney, Jr., of New Rochelle, New York.
Before 1986, people often did not get Social Security numbers until the age of about 14, because they were used for income tracking purposes, and those under that age rarely had a large income. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 requires parents to make a list of Social Security numbers for each dependent above the age of 5, whose parents would like to claim tax deductions. Before this action is done, parents who claim tax deductions are only trusted not to lie about the number of children they support. During the first year of the Tax Reform Act, these anti-fraud changes resulted in seven million fewer lightweight claims claimed. The loss of dependents is believed to involve either children who have never existed or tax deductions that are not properly claimed by non-custodial parents. In 1988, the threshold was reduced to 2 years, and in 1990, the threshold was reduced to 1 year. Today, SSN is required regardless of the age of the child to receive exceptions. Since then, parents often file Social Security numbers for their children immediately after birth; today, it can be done on apps for birth certificates.
Maps Social Security number
Goal and use
The initial goal of this number is to track individual accounts in the Social Security program. It has since been used as an identifier for individuals in the United States, although there are rarely errors in which duplicates do exist. Since the number is now set by the SSA center publishing office, it is not possible the duplication will ever happen again. Multiple duplications occur when a numbered card is sent to a regional SSA office and (initially) the Post Office.
Employee, patient, student, and credit records are sometimes indexed by Social Security numbers.
The US Army has been using the Social Security number as an identification number for Army and Air Force personnel since July 1, 1969, Navy and Marine Corps for their personnel since 1 January 1972, and Coast Guard Force for their personnel since October 1, 1974. Previous , the US military uses a much more complicated service number system that varies by service.
Starting June 2011, DOD began to remove Social Security numbers from military identification cards. This is replaced by a unique DOD identification number, formerly known as EDIPI.
Non-universal status
Social Security was originally a universal tax, but when Medicare was legalized in 1965, objections to religious groups that existed before 1951 were allowed to leave the system. Because of this, not every American is part of the Social Security program, and not everyone has a number. However, a social security number is required for parents to claim their children as dependents for federal income tax purposes, and the Internal Revenue Service requires all companies to obtain an SSN (or alternate identification number) from their employees, as described below. The Old Order of the Amish has struggled to prevent universal Social Security by overturning rules such as the requirement to provide Social Security numbers for hunting licenses.
Social Security Cards printed from January 1946 to January 1972 clearly state that people should not use numbers and cards for identification. Since almost everyone in the United States now has SSN, it becomes convenient to use it and the message is deleted.
Since then, Social Security numbers have become the de facto national identification number. Although some people do not have SSN assigned to them, it becomes increasingly difficult to engage in legitimate financial activities such as applying for a loan or bank account without one. Although the government can not ask someone to reveal their SSN without a legal basis, the company may refuse to provide services to someone who does not provide SSN. The card where the SSN is issued is still not suitable for primary identification because there are no photos, no physical description and no birth date. All it does is confirm that a certain number has been issued for a particular name. Conversely, a SIM or state identity card is used as an identification for an adult. Use what is required for federal tax purposes
Section Internal Revenue Code 6109 (d) provides: "Social security account number issued to an individual for the purposes of section 205 (c) (2) (A) of the Social Security Act [codified as 42 USC Ã,§Ã, 405 (c) (2) (A)] shall, except as otherwise provided under the Regulation of the Secretary [Minister of Finance or its delegation], be used as an identification number for that individual for the purposes of this title [Internal Income Code, heading 26 of the United States Code ]. "
The Internal Revenue Code also provides, when requested by rules prescribed by the Secretary [Treasury or its delegation]:
- Inclusion in return: Any person required under the authority of this title to make returns, representations, or other documents must be included in returns, statements or other documents such as identification numbers that may be prescribed to secure the identification of the person.
- Furniture number for others: Any person with an interest to whom any returns, statements or other documents required under the authority of this title shall be made by another person or whose identification number is required to be displayed on the return of another person shall provide to others such identification number as specified to secure proper identification.
According to US Treasury regulations, anyone who, after October 31, 1962, works as an employee for a Social Security tax-imposed, Medicare tax, or US federal income tax cut required to file an "account number" using "Form SS-5."
A taxpayer who is not eligible to have a Social Security number must obtain an alternative Taxpayer Identification Number.
Social Security card type
Three types of Social Security cards are issued. The most common type contains the name and number of the cardholder. Such cards are given to US citizens and permanent US residents. There are also two types of limited Social Security cards:
- The one reads "invalid for the job." Such cards can not be used as proof of work authorization, and can not be accepted as a List of C documents on Form I-9.
- Others read "valid to work only with DHS authorization", or longer, "valid to work only with INS authorization." This card is provided to people who have temporary work authorizations in the US. They can meet I-9 requirements, if they are accompanied by a work authorization card.
In 2004 Congress passed the Law on Intelligence Reform and Prevention of Terrorism; the section mandated that the Social Security Administration redesigned the Social Security Number Card (SSN) to prevent counterfeiting. From April 2006 to August 2007, employees of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Government Printing Office (GPO) were assigned to redesign Social Security Number Cards for the specifications of the Interagency Task Force set up by the Social Security Commissioner in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security.
The new SSN card design uses the secret and blatant security features created by the SSA design team and GPO.
Identity theft
Many citizens and privacy advocates are concerned about the disclosure and processing of Social Security numbers. Furthermore, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have demonstrated an algorithm that uses publicly available information privately to reconstruct the given SSN.
SSN is often used by those involved in identity theft, because it is interconnected with many other forms of identification, and because the person who requested it treats it as an authenticator. Financial institutions generally require SSNs to create bank accounts, credit cards, and loans - in part because they assume that no one other than the person is issued to find out.
To aggravate the problem of using Social Security numbers as identifiers is the fact that Social Security cards do not contain any biometric identifiers, so it is basically impossible to know whether someone using a particular SSN really belongs to someone without relying on other documentation (which may have been obtained wrongly through the use of SSN fraud). Congress has submitted federal laws that limit the use of SSNs for identification and prohibit their use for a number of commercial purposes - for example, rental applications.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers an alternative to SSN in some places where providing unreliable parties with very important identification numbers. Taxpayers must obtain and use a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) to be included on their client's tax return (as part of the signature requirement). Childcare services have tax benefits, and even the sole proprietor must provide an EIN (employer identification number) to use on their tax return.
The Social Security Administration has suggested that, if asked to provide its Social Security number, a citizen should ask which laws require their use. In accordance with Ã,§7213 of the Implementation Act of the Commission 9/11 of 2004 and 20 C.F.R. 422.103 (e) (2) , the number of replacement Social Security cards per person is generally limited to three per calendar year and ten in a lifetime.
Identity confusion also occurs due to the use of local Social Security numbers by the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, whose numbers overlap with New Hampshire and Maine residents.
Number change
A person may request a new Social Security number, but only under certain conditions;
- Where the serial number assigned to the same family member is causing the problem.
- If a duplicate is issued.
- In cases where the person is a victim of domestic abuse or abuse, and there is a clear need to change their number for their personal safety.
- When someone has been the victim of identity theft, and their Social Security number continues to be problematic.
- Where a person has a provable objection of religion to a number (like a certain Christian refuses number 666).
For all of these conditions, credible third party evidence such as a detention order or police report is required.
Structure
Social Security Number is a nine digit number in the format "AAA-GG-SSSS". This number is divided into three parts: the first three digits, known as the region number because they were previously assigned by the geographic area; the middle two digits, known as the group number ; and the last four digits, known as serial numbers .
On June 25, 2011, SSA changed the SSN assignment process to "SSN randomization". SSN randomization affects the SSN assignment process in the following ways:
- This removes the geographical significance of the first three digits of the SSN, called the area number, by no longer allocating specific numbers by the state for assignment to individuals.
- This removes the significance of the highest number of groups assigned to each area number, and, as a result, the High Group List is frozen in time and can be used for validation only issued by SSN prior to the randomisation date (see "Valid SSN").
- Unspecified area numbers have been introduced for the task, excluding area numbers 000, 666, and 900-99.
Since Individual Tax Payer Identification Number (ITIN) is issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), they are not affected by this SSA change.
Historical structure
Before the 2011 randomization process, the first three digits or regional numbers are assigned by the geographic region. Prior to 1973, cards were issued at the local Jamsostek office throughout the country and the territorial number represents the office code where the card was issued. It does not have to be in the area where applicants stay, because someone can apply for their card in the Jamsostek office. Beginning in 1973, when SSA began deploying SSN and centralized card out of Baltimore, the area number was given based on Postal Code at the mailing address provided in the application for the original Social Security card. The applicant's mailing address should not be the same as their place of residence. Thus, the area number does not necessarily represent the applicant's place of residence regardless of whether the card was issued before, or after, 1973.
Generally, assigned numbers start in the northeast and move south and west, so the people registering from the address on the east coast have the lowest numbers and the people on the west coast have the highest numbers. Since the areas assigned to an area have been exhausted, new areas of the pool are assigned, so some countries have groups of numbers that are not side by side.
Middle two digits or group numbers range from 01 to 99. Even before SSN randomization, group numbers are not assigned sequentially in an area. In contrast, for administrative reasons, group numbers are issued in the following order:
- odd numbers from 01 to 09.
- even number from 10 to 98.
- even number from 02 to 08.
- odd numbers from 11 to 99.
For example, group number 98 will be issued before 11.
The last four digits are serial number . Before SSN randomization is applied, they represent a sequence of straight numerical numbers from 0001 to 9999 in the group.
SSN Valid
Prior to June 25, 2011, valid SSNs can not have area numbers between 734 and 749, or above 772, the highest number of areas allocated by the Social Security Administration. Effective June 25, 2011, SSAs assign SSN randomly and allow assignment of the number of areas between 734 and 749 and above 772 to 800s. This should not be confused with the Tax Identification Number (TIN), which includes additional area numbers.
Some custom numbers are never allocated:
- The numbers with all the zeros in any group of digits ( 000 - ## - ####, ### - 00 - ## ##, ### - ## - 0000 ).
- A number with 666 or 900-999 (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) in the first digit group.
As of 2011, SSA publishes the last group number used for each area number. Because group numbers are allocated in a regular pattern, it is possible to identify unsent SSNs that contain invalid group numbers. Now the numbers are assigned randomly, and SSN fraud is not easily detected with publicly available information. Many online services, however, provide SSN validation.
Unlike many similar numbers, no check figures are included.
Fatigue and reuse
The Social Security Administration does not reuse Social Security numbers. It has spent more than 450 million since the start of the program, and at a usage rate of about 5.5 million per year. It says it's enough for the last few generations without reusing or changing the number of digits. However, there are some instances where some individuals have inadvertently assigned the same Social Security number.
SSN used in ads
Some of the SSN used in advertising has made the numbers invalid. One notable example occurred in 1938 when Company E. H. Ferree in Lockport, New York, decided to promote his product by showing how the Social Security card would fit into his wallet. The sample card, used for display purposes, is placed in every wallet, sold by Woolworth and other department stores across the country; vice president of the wallet factory and treasurer Douglas Patterson using the real SSN from his secretary, Hilda Schrader Whitcher.
Although the card is printed in red (the original card is printed in blue) and has a "Specimen" printed on the front, many people use SSN Whitcher as their own. The Social Security Administration account of the incident also claimed that the fake card was half the size of the original card, although the miniature card was useless for its purpose and although the Whitcher held two cards of similar size in the attached photo. Over time, the number that appears (078-05-1120) has been claimed by a total of over 40,000 people as their own. SSA started an advertising campaign stating that it was not properly using a number (Hilda Whitcher issued a new SSN). However, the number was found to be used by 12 individuals by the end of 1977.
Todd Davis recently shared his SSN in advertisements for his company's LifeLock identity theft protection service, which allowed his identity to be stolen a dozen times.
See also
References
External links
- Social Security Administration
- The Archive of the Social Security Mortality Index records over 85 million SSNs, all of which go into the public domain after the death of the owner
- Replacing a Lost or Stoled Social Security Card
- Woolworth Cards: SSN 078-05-1120 has been claimed by thousands of people since the late 1930s
- Social Security Card Published by Woolworth: "The story of the most abused amount of all time"
- Full list of group of area numbers from the Social Security Administration
- Social Security Administration FAQ for Social Security Number
- Social Security card application
- Heard about Removing Social Security Numbers from Medicare Cards: A Public Hearing before the Subcommittee on Social Security and the Health Committee Subcommittee on Ways and Means, US House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelve Congresses, Second Session, August 1, 2012
- Find public information about Social Security Number originating from SSN enumeration pattern before 2011
- Carolyn Puckett (2009). "The Story of Social Security Number". Social Security Bulletin . 69 (2). (PDF version)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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