• Uprise42@artemis.camp
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    1 year ago

    Actually SSN’s ARE supposed to be used that way now. It wasn’t intended when the system started because it was difficult to get everyone one. But once the system was established they started pushing federal agencies to use them. Then in the ‘60’s when the digital revolution began it just made sense to use them. But the law has been changed since 1943. The new cards don’t even have that line on them anymore.

    https://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/ssnreportc2.html

    • Pieisawesome@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They are terrible ids, they used to be assigned sequentially and geographically based. So you could figure out the first 3-5 digits from basic information and get in a ballpark number if you had a birthday.