Our social security number should be important to us more than anything else. If this number gets public, then our life can go for a toss. Our credit, heath insurance, etc. will be in jeopardy. But mismanagement or negligence of social security numbers is quite common by the executive and the legislative branches of the US Government.
Here are 4 ways in which our identity can be at risk due to mismanagement of social security numbers:
1. Identity theft of children
An identity thief will be more interested in hacking the identity of the children rather than an adult. It might take years for the child to discover the identity theft and take actions. This may lead the child to a serious financial jeopardy for years to come. In a recent study, it has been found that there are around 10.2% children who have suffered from identity theft and as a result incurred loans, utility bills and real estate clubbed against their SSNs. A solution to this problem is to make it easier for children to get new SSNs in such cases.
2. Medicare
If you have a Medicare card, then you must know that the Social security number is written on it along with the Medicare Identification Number. This can be quite dangerous as there is a high chance of confusing one for the other. This can actually jeopardize the financial security of a large number of people through a program which has been created to guard them. But the bureaucrats are hardly bothered for that.
3. Tax credentials
The Social Security number has to be mentioned on the tax documents, isn’t it so? We do always panic about this fact. But did you ever care to think this can jeopardize your financial situation. The documents are delivered to us with hardly any kind of protection. Moreover, a complete W2 form along with SSN is close to handing over a blank check. Now the government has proposed that the SSNs on W2 will be replaced by an alternative unique identifying number for each employee. On the other hand the IRS has its own proposal - to replace the SSN with a “truncated taxpayer identification number,”
4. The Armed Forces
Earlier, the Social Security number was printed on the ID cards of the armed forces. In the year 2008, the Defence Department asked the branches of military to remove it from the ID cards. Though the deadline was 2009, the task wasn’t accomplished. It should be noted here that till the time SSNs are present on any ID card, or are used for any military purpose, service members and their families will always be exposed to the fear of identity theft.