| Comment Number: | 531096-00228 |
| Received: | 9/3/2007 8:03:04 AM |
| Organization: | SJ Investigative Services, LLC |
| Commenter: | Jenkins |
| State: | DC |
| Agency: | Federal Trade Commission |
| Rule: | Private Sector Use of SSNs |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
SSN's in the Private Sector- Comment, Project No. Po75414" to facilitate the organization of comments. On behalf of SJ Investigative Services, LLC a professional Investigation Agency. I urge the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to give special emphasis, attention and weight on the negative impact restricting/prohibiting a Private Investigators use of the SSN for legitimate purposes. One of the investigative areas I perform is in the area of adoptions, and conducting diligent searches for absent parents in the area of pre-adoption, child neglect and abuse. Ninety five percent of the time when I am searching for absent parents, the only lead I may have is a social security number. Having access to social security numbers through databases have allowed me to locate absent parents in the area of adoptions and thereby allowing a child who is in foster care to be adopted. It is critical for private investigators to have access to social security numbers to accomplish their work. Private Investigators are hired by working class people to perform work that law enforcements do not perform, i.e., skip tracking, debt collecting, process serving, domestic cases, etc. Most database companies conduct a thorough background check before allowing a Private Investigating Agency to obtain access their databases. The agency must be licensed and most database companies conduct inspections of the investigating agency. What systems are in place in the work force to prevent an employee from using another employees or applicants social security number for their own personal gain? I urge you to consider this comment and vote for private investigators to have access to use social security numbers in our investigations. Thank you.