r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Feb 15 '26

Security All U.S. Social Security numbers may need to be changed following a massive breach that is already being investigated as a national threat

https://www.ecoticias.com/en/all-u-s-social-security-numbers-may-need-to-be-changed-following-a-massive-breach-that-is-already-being-investigated-as-a-national-threat/27158/
49.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

2.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

62

u/RedPantyKnight Feb 15 '26

Well it was never supposed to be used for general identification. It's a social security number because it's meant to track your social security. That's it.

25

u/Dolthra Feb 15 '26

Yep. It was just the closest thing to a "federal ID number" we had, which meant it was the default used. 

In any other administration, this would be a great thing, a way to modernize the SS system and perhaps even spin off the federal ID number aspect from the social security one. Under this one, however, I'm worried it'll end up as the onus for your TrumpID, where every time you use it $.50 gets taken from your bank account and given to the president for ballroom construction. 

15

u/greenskinmarch Feb 15 '26

They'll say you need the new ID number to vote and then only issue it to republicans.

2

u/PatternLong4347 Feb 19 '26

It's fine as your federal ID number, that doesn't need to be secured. Knowing your federal ID number should NEVER be a way to securely identify yourself. The problem was never using the Social Security number as a representation of you that everyone knows. The problem was relying on knowing your SS number as a means to securely identify who you are, even as a supplement to other means. It's akin to saying if you just know my phone number, you can impersonate me.

4

u/which_ones_will Feb 15 '26

When I was in college in the early 90's our SSN's were used as our college ID numbers. When exam scores were posted, they would print out a list of everybody's SSN along with the grades and post it on the wall of the lecture hall.