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104 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
104 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
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FROM: Barbara Bennett
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SUBJECT: Social Security Information
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The Social Security Number
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SSA has continually emphasized the fact that the SSN
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identifies a particular record only and the Social Security
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Card indicates the person whose record is identified by that
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number. In no way can the Social Security Card identify the
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bearer. From 1946 to 1972 the legend "Not for Identification"
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was printed on the face of the card. However, many people
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ignored the message and the legend was eventually dropped.
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The social security number is the most widely used and
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carefully controlled number in the country, which makes it an
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attractive identifier.
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With the exception of the restrictions imposed on Federal and
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some State and local organizations by the Privacy Act of
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1974, organizations requiring a unique identifier for
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purposes of controlling their records are not prohibited from
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using (with the consent of the holder) the SSN. SSA records
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are confidential and knowledge of a person's SSN does not
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give the user access to information in SSA files which is
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confidential by law.
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Many commercial enterprises have used the SSN in various
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promotional efforts. These uses are not authorized by SSA,
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but SSA has no authority to prohibit such activities as most
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are not illegal. Some of these unauthorized uses are: SSN
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contests; skip-tracers; sale or distribution of plastic or
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metal cards; pocketbook numbers (the numbers used on sample
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social security cards in wallets); misleading advertising,
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commercial enterprises charging fees for SSN services;
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identification of personal property.
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The Social Security Number (SSN) is composed of 3 parts,
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XXX-XX-XXXX, called the Area, Group, and Serial. For the most
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part, (there are exceptions), the Area is determined by where the
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individual APPLIED for the SSN (before 1972) or RESIDED at time
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of application (after 1972). The areas are assigned as follows:
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000 unused 387-399 WI 528-529 UT
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001-003 NH 400-407 KY 530 NV
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004-007 ME 408-415 TN 531-539 WA
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008-009 VT 416-424 AL 540-544 OR
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010-034 MA 425-428 MS 545-573 CA
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035-039 RI 429-432 AR 574 AK
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040-049 CT 433-439 LA 575-576 HI
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050-134 NY 440-448 OK 577-579 DC
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135-158 NJ 449-467 TX 580 VI Virgin Islands
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159-211 PA 468-477 MN 581-584 PR Puerto Rico
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212-220 MD 478-485 IA 585 NM
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221-222 DE 486-500 MO 586 PI Pacific Islands*
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223-231 VA 501-502 ND 587-588 MS
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232-236 WV 503-504 SD 589-595 FL
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237-246 NC 505-508 NE 596-599 PR Puerto Rico
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247-251 SC 509-515 KS 600-601 AZ
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252-260 GA 516-517 MT 602-626 CA
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261-267 FL 518-519 ID *Guam, American Samoa,
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268-302 OH 520 WY Northern Mariana Islands,
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303-317 IN 521-524 CO Philippine Islands
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318-361 IL 525 NM
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362-386 MI 526-527 AZ
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627-699 unassigned, for future use
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700-728 Railroad workers through 1963, then discontinued
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729-899 unassigned, for future use
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900-999 not valid SSNs, but were used for program purposes
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when state aid to the aged, blind and disabled was
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converted to a federal program administered by SSA.
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As the Areas assigned to a locality are exhausted, new areas
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from the pool are assigned. This is why some states have non-
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contiguous groups of Areas.
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The Group portion of the SSN has no meaning other than to
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determine whether or not a number has been assigned. SSA
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publishes a list every month of the highest group assigned for
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each SSN Area. The order of assignment for the Groups is: odd
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numbers under 10, even numbers over 9, even numbers under 9
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except for 00 which is never used, and odd numbers over 10. For
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example, if the highest group assigned for area 999 is 72, then
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we know that the number 999-04-1234 is an invalid number because
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even Groups under 9 have not yet been assigned.
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The Serial portion of the SSN has no meaning. The Serial is not
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assigned in strictly numerical order. The Serial 0000 is never
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assigned.
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Before 1973, Social Security Cards with pre-printed numbers were
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issued to each local SSA office. The numbers were assigned by the
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local office. In 1973, SSN assignment was automated and
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outstanding stocks of pre-printed cards were destroyed. All SSNs
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are now assigned by computer from headquarters. There are rare
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cases in which the computer system can be forced to accept a
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manual assignment such as a person refusing a number with 666 in
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it.
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A pamphlet entitled "The Social Security Number" (Pub. No.
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05-10633) provides an explanation of the SSN's structure and
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the method of assigning and validating Social Security numbers.
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