| Comment Number: | 531096-00110 |
| Received: | 8/12/2007 8:24:06 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Robin Duggar |
| State: | NH |
| Agency: | Federal Trade Commission |
| Rule: | Private Sector Use of SSNs |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I am extremely concerned with the ubiquitous employment of Social Security Numbers for tracking of consumer activities. I still encountered health care providers who request it on their forms, though HIPAA discourages its use. It is time for the Federal government to prohibit the use of Social Security Numbers by the private sector unless the employing entity needs the number to directly interface with a Federal data bank. At this point, the Social Security Numbers of millions of citizens are recorded in thousands of inappropriate private databases. While it may seem too late to prevent the misuse of this information, if the Federal government stepped in, private industry could be forced into expunging that data from their records. It has become entirely too easy for someone's identity to be stolen. The time, energy, and expense involved in clearing one's name in such instances places a huge burden on private citizens. And, after the most recent incidences involving TJ Max and Certegy, I hope our representatives can see the tangible drain breaches of such information place on our economy.