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MJBrune t1_j57d3a9 wrote

Reply to comment by Macemore in Pierce County did an "whoopsie" by GunHead416

other 7? My SSN is only 9 digits long...

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Macemore t1_j57fa25 wrote

Yeah I counted wrong, I even remember thinking "7 has to be wrong" but I posted it anyway. I think we all understand the gist of what I was saying, the first 5 digits are based off locations of birth and certificate registration, the last 4 are sequential (basically random from guessing perspective). It's actually scary how little security there is with SSNs especially knowing the potential damage.

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MJBrune t1_j57hfjj wrote

it's because SSNs were simply supposed to be ID tax numbers that you could give to anyone. Someone knowing your tax number wasn't meant to confirm your identity. It was just supposed to track how much you put into Social Security. The IRS tried to prevent people from using it as an ID security measure but eventually just gave up.

It's like how business EIN operates. It's literally just a number to track the taxes that the business is responsible for. In some cases it even replaces the business owner's SSN on some forms.

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Macemore t1_j57hzy1 wrote

Wow that makes a lot of sense, thank you! It's sad that the IRS tried and they failed. I've wondered why it was so cavalier to give my EIN out, I figured it must not mean as much as the SSN and now I know why!

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