Social Security Numbers: Government Benefits from SSN Use but Could Provide Better Safeguards

United States. General Accounting Office.

United States. General Accounting Office.

关键词: Government accountability -- United States.;    justice and law enforcement;    information management;    social security numbers;    letter report;   

RP-ID  :  GAO-02-352
RP-ID  :  234461

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security number (SSN) was created in 1936 to track workers' earnings and eligibility for Social Security benefits. Because SSNs are unique identifiers and do not change, the numbers provide a convenient and efficient way to manage records. Government agencies are taking some steps to safeguard the number, but some protections are not uniformly in place at any level of government. Many of the state and county agencies responding to GAO's survey maintain records that contain SSNs; federal agencies maintain public records less frequently. At the state and county levels, some offices, such as state professional licensing agencies and county recorders' offices, have traditionally been repositories for public records that may contain SSNs. Some government agencies are trying to better safeguard the SSN by trying innovative approaches to protect them from public display. For example, some agencies and courts are modifying their processes or their forms so that they can collect SSNs but prevent the number from becoming part of the publicly available record. The most far-reaching efforts took place in states with a statewide initiative that established a policy and procedures designed to protect individuals' personal information, including SSNs, in all circumstances where they collect, store, and use it."