FTC Testifies on Social Security Numbers in Commerce

A press release entitled Reconciling Beneficial Uses with Threats to Privacy from the FTC newsroom.

The Federal Trade Commission today told the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that in the effort to reconcile the beneficial uses of Social Security Numbers with the threats to consumer privacy, “The challenge is to find the proper balance between the need to keep SSNs out of the hands of identity thieves, while giving businesses and government entities sufficient means to attribute information to the correct person.”

In testimony for the FTC, Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said, “With 300 million American consumers, many of whom share the same name, the unique nine-digit SSN is a key identification tool for businesses, government, and others.” Leibowitz said that credit reporting agencies use SSNs to ensure that credit data ends up in the right files, and businesses use the reports to determine whether to extend credit, insurance, or employment to consumers. “Without the ability to use SSNs as a personal identifier and fraud prevention tool, the granting of credit and the provision of other financial services would become riskier and more expensive and inconvenient for consumers,” he said. Restricting the disclosure of SSNs also could impact public health initiatives, criminal law enforcement, and anti-fraud and anti-terrorism efforts.