Consumer Reports Poll: 89 Percent of Americans Want Lawmakers to Restrict the Use of Social Security Numbers
Source: Consumers Union

As Congress and federal regulators consider proposals aimed at reducing the risk of identity theft, a national poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center reveals that an overwhelming majority of Americans want lawmakers to restrict the use and availability of Social Security numbers by businesses and government agencies.

According to the poll, 89 percent of Americans agree that state and federal lawmakers should pass laws restricting the use of Social Security numbers. Social Security numbers are particularly sensitive information because they can provide the key to unlocking a consumer’s financial identity.

The poll revealed that 87 percent of consumers have been asked in the past year to provide their Social Security number in whole or in part by a business or government agency. Requests come from a wide variety of businesses for purposes beyond credit, employment, or tax compliance. Many requests come from businesses that have no clear need to collect these numbers.

+ SSNs in the Private Sector (PDF; 131 KB)

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 5:43 pm and is filed under Consumer issues, Privacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.