08/27/2024

The government doesn’t care if a child’s Social Security number is used for fraud—even before they’re born

R Street

If the U.S. government became aware that a child’s identity was used in fraud, one would assume they would tell parents and report it to law enforcement. A reasonable person would also think that when issuing new Social Security numbers (SSNs) to children, the Social Security Administration (SSA) would check to make sure that nobody has already used them for fraud. However, a reasonable person would be wrong in all instances. Congress should step in to address this and move decisively to protect children.

History of SSN Use

Until recent history, SSNs were sometimes used as regularly as names. A Virginia Tech class of 1983 brochure advertised that class rings would be engraved with the graduate’s name and city and state or SSN, and, as late as 1991, the brochure still advertised SSN engravings as an option. Military dog tags also included SSNs until 2015, and service members even put their SSNs on their laundry bags in Iraq.