Ä Area: Alt.Privacy ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Msg#: 200 Date: 04-23-95 04:32 From: Chris Hibbert Read: Yes Replied: No To: All Mark: Subj: Social Security Number FA ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Originally From: hibbert@netcom.com Archive-name: privacy/ssn-faq Last-modified: April 2, 1995 Last-Modification: new Archive name, retrieval directions, employers, banks URL: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/html/privacy.html -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- If you have comments on the following, please send them to me at hibbert@netcom.com. A description of how to retrieve the most recent version of this and related documents appears at the end. What to do when they ask for your Social Security Number by Chris Hibbert Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Many people are concerned about the number of organizations asking for their Social Security Numbers. They worry about invasions of privacy and the oppressive feeling of being treated as just a number. Unfortunately, I can't offer any hope about the dehumanizing effects of identifying you with your numbers. I *can* try to help you keep your Social Security Number from being used as a tool in the invasion of your privacy. Dealing with Government Organizations Surprisingly, government agencies are reasonably easy to deal with; private organizations are much more troublesome. Federal law restricts the agencies at all levels of government that can demand your number and a fairly complete disclosure is required even if the disclosure is voluntary. There are no comparable Federal laws either restricting the uses non-government organizations can make of it, or compelling them to tell you anything about their plans. Some states have recently enacted regulations on collection of SSNs by private entities. With private institutions, your main recourse is refusing to do business with anyone whose terms you don't like. They, in turn, are allowed to refuse to deal with you on those terms. Universities and Colleges Universities that accept federal funds are subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (the "Buckley Amendment", it's on-line at | http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/law/education_records_privacy.txt), which prohibits them from giving out personal information on students without permission. There is an exception for directory information, which is limited to names, addresses, and phone numbers, and another exception for release of information to the parents of minors. There is no exception for Social Security Numbers, so covered Universities aren't allowed to reveal students' numbers without their permission. In addition, state universities are bound by the requirements of the Privacy Act, (so they have to give a Privacy Act notice if they ask for a SSN). If they make uses of the SSN which aren't covered by the disclosure they are in violation. US Passports The application for US Passports (DSP-11 12/87) requests a Social Security Number, but doesn't give enough information in its Privacy Act notice to verify that the Passport office has the authority to request it. There is a reference to "Federal Tax Law" and a misquotation of Section 6039E of the 1986 Internal Revenue Code, claiming that that section requires that you provide your name, mailing address, date of birth, and Social Security Number. The referenced section only requires TIN (SSN), and it only requires that it be sent to the IRS (not to the Passport office). It appears that when you apply for a passport, you can refuse to reveal your SSN to the passport office, and instead mail a notice to the IRS, give only your SSN (other identifying info optional) and notify them that you are applying for a passport. [Copies (in postscript) of the letter that was used by one contributor can be found at http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/passport.ps.Z. I've since heard from | other readers who have also used this technique successfully.] | Health Plans requiring SSNs for covered minors I have recently gotten several reports of a new Federal requirement that employer-provided health plans must get employees to provide the SSNs of all covered dependents, including minor children. I don't have complete or authoritative information on this yet, but it seems that the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 required employers to collect social security numbers for each plan participant, including dependents. The part that bureaucrats weren't reporting was that this requirement wasn't supposed to go| into effect until January, 1995. [March 95: I haven't heard anything recently about it. No requests for SSNs,| no word about cancelling the program.] | Fighting the requirement in your company According to a note in the Federal Register on May 10, 1994, the department of Health and Human Services requested that the requirements be delayed for 18 months in order that the requirements could be made more consistent with (then impending) health care reform legislation. I don't know whether the delay was ever implemented, but you can probably keep your HR department busy by telling them that HHS wanted a delay. You can also point them at the compliance requirements in HHS' proposed regulations; they require only a good faith effort on the employer's part, and even define what that is. "An employer is deemed to have made a reasonable good faith effort to provide the information with respect to the name and TIN of each other individual covered by the group health plan with respect to the reports for a specific calendar year if the employer can prove that it has established a systematic method to obtain the necessary information that includes both (i) a documented initial effort to obtain the necessary information from the electing individual and (ii) a documented follow-up effort if the electing individual does not respond to the initial effort." In any case, when the federal government requires your employer to collect SSNs from you, it has to provide a form with a Privacy Act notice. If your personnel department asks you to give them your dependents' SSNs, ask to see a Privacy Act notice. If necessary, ask them to look at the statement on W-4 forms and tell them that they need a statement like it in order for the request to be legal. Children The Family Support Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-485) requires states to require parents to give their Social Security Numbers in order to get a birth certificate issued for a newborn. The law allows the requirement to be waived for "good cause", but there's no indication of what may qualify. The IRS requires taxpayers to report SSNs for dependents over one year of age when you claim them as a deduction, but the requirement can be avoided if you're prepared to document the existence of the child by other means if the IRS challenges you. The law on this can be found at 26 USC 6109. The penalty for not giving a dependent's number is only $5. Several people have reported that they haven't provided SSNs for their dependents for several years, and haven't been challenged by the IRS. Private Organizations The guidelines for dealing with non-governmental institutions are much more tenuous. Most of the time private organizations that request your Social Security Number can get by quite well without your number, and if you can find the right person to negotiate with, they'll willingly admit it. The problem is finding that right person. The person behind the counter is often told no more than "get the customers to fill out the f