Somewhat Secure Number

With a Congressional committee interviewing ChoicePoint CEO Derek Smith over the theft of 145,000 people's social security numbers, many members of Congress are wondering if it isn't time to rewrite the laws of selling personal data and make selling a person's SS# illegal.

What? It isn't illegal already? When I head about this I was flabbergasted. In high school and college they drill it into your head to never let anyone get your Social Security Number. All sorts of experts say never to respond to SPAM asking for your SS# or PINs or anything. Yet companies like ChoicePoint are allowed to know it.

One interview had the company saying they needed social security numbers to keep track of the uniqueness of each individual. Are you telling me name and date of birth isn't enough for that? How many Kevin Haroutioun Ohannessians born on February 27, 1979 are there running around?

With identity theft becoming a bigger threat every day, the government needs to curb such businesses access to personal data. Congress should make buying and selling Social Security Numbers illegal. I don't think the companies will suffer much loss. They still have our Driver License numbers and everything else under the sun.