Unless contracted by the government to provide a service that requires divulging one’s SSN, private companies (except employers) do not need your SSN.
IOW, no private company needs your SSN. Asking for it, and using it for normal ID purposes, is incredibly lazy and dangerous.
To cover your proverbial butts in the future, I would recommend contacting hour local SSA office and asking who may access your SSN.
Then, contact any private companies that you know asked for this info. If you need to, create your own personal ID number. Then ask that your SSN be deleted from their system. If they say they can’t do that, escalate until issue solved.
Off the top of my head the following entities may access your SSN:
Any company that issues you end of year tax information. This includes W2, 1099 and forms used by various banking and investment entities to report your gains and losses.
Any company with legitimate interaction with IRS or SSA may require your SSN, but your SSN is NOT a handy-dandy ID handle.
I can think of no reason (except if working with government assistance programs) why a cell phone company needs this information.
It’s late. But I read this and felt compelled to post. I hope some of my rambling was helpful.
IOW, no private company needs your SSN. Asking for it, and using it for normal ID purposes, is incredibly lazy and dangerous.
To cover your proverbial butts in the future, I would recommend contacting hour local SSA office and asking who may access your SSN.
Then, contact any private companies that you know asked for this info. If you need to, create your own personal ID number. Then ask that your SSN be deleted from their system. If they say they can’t do that, escalate until issue solved.
Off the top of my head the following entities may access your SSN:
Any company that issues you end of year tax information. This includes W2, 1099 and forms used by various banking and investment entities to report your gains and losses.
Any company with legitimate interaction with IRS or SSA may require your SSN, but your SSN is NOT a handy-dandy ID handle.
I can think of no reason (except if working with government assistance programs) why a cell phone company needs this information.
It’s late. But I read this and felt compelled to post. I hope some of my rambling was helpful.