http://reagle.org/joseph/blog/career/nyu-ssn-request Joseph Reagle http://reagle.org/joseph/blog/career/nyu-ssn-request Copyright 2003-2010 Joseph Reagle PyBlosxom http://pyblosxom.sourceforge.net/ 1.4.3 01/10/2008 2003-09-25T19:24:00Z http://reagle.org/joseph/blog/2003/09/25/nyu-ssn-request 2003-09-25T19:24:00Z 2003-09-25T19:24:00Z <p>I needed to actually write and print out a letter...</p> <blockquote> <p>New York University</p> <p>Office of the University Registrar</p> <p>To Whom It May Concern,</p> <p>Please assign me a student ID number other than my social security number. US Social Security Numbers were created for a specific and narrow purpose in the Social Security Act of 1935. However, that purpose did not include the identification or authentication of individuals for other purposes. I appreciate that using this number is convenient for your institution, but I'm also sure that you appreciate that the more this number is used for this contrary purpose of authentication, the less valuable it becomes in that capacity. In fact, "According to the FTC's figures, ID theft is the most popular form of consumer fraud, in part because it is the most profitable. ID thieves stole nearly $100 million from financial institutions last year, or an average of $6,767 per victim." Having my social security number spread throughout the institution of NYU for purposes of authentication dramatically increases my exposure to identity theft.</p> <p>Sincerely,</p> <p>Joseph M. Reagle Jr.</p> </blockquote> <p></p>