Why do we need a Social Security Number?

So i just got done taking a big Police state exam and they wanted to know my SS number. However on the test they called it your "Personal Identification Number". This is a serious question. Why do they call it your personal identification number if it isn't even on your state issued driver's license.? I didn't know it because i almost never use it so it was kinda embarrassing but hey the state #ed up to with a big typo saying everyone needed a calculator in caps and then say we dont need it. What's the point of giving your name, house address,photo id, and phone number if that doesn't even identify you to the people who grade these tests. ? BUT im glad i wasn't the only one hahah. I thought I did well on the test lots of reading comprehension and sentence structure understanding. But i dont get how some people can take a 6 hour test and finish it in 1 hour no way they read everything and understood it. Unless they guessed. Its also easy to ignore people who laugh at ya when you dont know anyone in the room hahah. Also someone farted to and I almost wanted to be the person to yell out who the # did a silent but deadly fart? Since i didnt know it they just put 555-555-555 down.

Why do we need a Social Security Number?

So they know which FEMA camp to put you in . . . duh

a reply to: Stevemagegod

The SS has been known as the mark of the beast, that is the way government can track people down and why is issue at birth this days.

How do you not know you SSN? I've had it memorized since I was 10 years old. It's a federally issued ID number. Your DL number is state issued. There's really not much more to it than that. Your social security number is tied to.... guess what... social security... and it's issued at birth. It's the easiest way for the Federal Government to identify everyone. That's why it's called a PIN.

As for time to take a test... you'd be surprised. I was almost always the fastest at test-taking. My mind doesn't need to read everything, most is processed subconsciously. I automatically leap to the key words that tell the story and provide the correct answer. Some things you need to focus on and read thoroughly, but other things can be merely glanced at and known immediately.

a reply to: Stevemagegod

Part of it is taxes, the other is ID. I had to go to court to clear up a DUI that I got in Colorado. I've never been to Colorado.
But, someone with the same name had and gotten a DUI. He has a different SS, so that's how they knew it wasn't me. The are 2 guys who live within 20 miles that have my same name and they are not model citizens. I was afraid there would be a mixup when applying for my CCL, so I'm glad LEO and others to have a way to tell us apart.

a police state exam? perhaps you mean a state police exam?
well anyhow it used to be illegal to use your SS number for ANYTHING except paying into SS or collecting benefits from SS but I heard that isn`t the case anymore.

I think that your SS number is a fairly secure federal government issued ID number, the fed doesn`t issue the same number to any 2 people each person has a unique number,even people with the same names have unique numbers.

The short answer to your question, why do we need a social security number? so the government can keep track of you and if you live long enough to retire, so the government can screw you out of the money you paid into SS all your life.

It's for your protection as well as theirs.

a reply to: Stevemagegod

It's really pretty straightforward. This would have been MUCH easier if phonebooks still existed.

So, try this. Google your zip code and the name James Smith. For myself, it resulted in 129K hits.

Names are not a unique identifier. When faced with indexing a group of citizens, you need a unique identifier. Frankly, put any middle name you want in between James and Smith. Doesn't matter. One way or the other, you're going to get more than one person with that name.



So, snowflakes, you're not that unique.

a reply to: Stevemagegod
Pretty soon you won't need it when Paul Ryan and Trump end SS and Medicare for the good of the Country (Hell, they can afford Healthcare, why can't you?)

SS numbers have meanings beside just being unique to an individual. They tell where you were born, or at least the general area. It helps when people try to use your number without knowing all your personal information. That is why most government agencies during identification will ask where you were born along with you SS#. If your answer and your SS don't match they have reason to suspect you are not who you say you are.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: Stevemagegod

Part of it is taxes, the other is ID. I had to go to court to clear up a DUI that I got in Colorado. I've never been to Colorado.
But, someone with the same name had and gotten a DUI. He has a different SS, so that's how they knew it wasn't me. The are 2 guys who live within 20 miles that have my same name and they are not model citizens. I was afraid there would be a mixup when applying for my CCL, so I'm glad LEO and others to have a way to tell us apart.

Ya but he doesn't have the same phone number, house address, or middle initial as you. I know people can # around with House and Phone Numbers pretty easily but still they already had the SS Number on the application forum. I asked the lady cant you guys just look up the application i sent you? They said no. Then what was the point of me giving it to them in the 1st place if they cant even look it up on a computer database. But then again they just low level employees.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

unless your your name is barak barry Obama soetoro,then it doesn`t matter if your social security number doesn`t match where you were born or your name.

a reply to: Stevemagegod

I asked the lady cant you guys just look up the application i sent you?

And if the guy who sent it in and the person taking the test were not the same guy............? They need a way to compare what they have, to what you give them.

reply to: Stevemagegod
for the biggest ponzi scheme ever pulled

You need a social security number any time the government cares to identify you....but not during elections. One man, one vote is just an internet meme.



In all seriousness, in answer to your question, it's called a personal identifying number because in addition SSNs, the federal government issues Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs).

Those are used for non citizens who are not eligible for SSNs, but are eligible to be employed in the US.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

SS numbers have meanings beside just being unique to an individual. They tell where you were born, or at least the general area. It helps when people try to use your number without knowing all your personal information. That is why most government agencies during identification will ask where you were born along with you SS#. If your answer and your SS don't match they have reason to suspect you are not who you say you are.Text

that is incorrect.

from the SSA.

Prior to 1972, cards were issued in local Social Security offices around the country and the Area Number represented the State in which the card was issued. This did not necessarily have to be the State where the applicant lived, since a person could apply for their card in any Social Security office. Since 1972, when SSA began assigning SSNs and issuing cards centrally from Baltimore, the area number assigned has been based on the ZIP code in the mailing address provided on the application for the original Social Security card. The applicant's mailing address does not have to be the same as their place of residence. Thus, the Area Number does not necessarily represent the State of residence of the applicant, either prior to 1972 or since.
The SSN Numbering Scheme Number Has Three Parts

for more recent and updated info from the Social Security Administration see the link i posted three posts down.

They need your SS number because you live in a free country and freedom means being able to identify you at the drop of a hat.

the answer, "I have never been to Colorado." should be enough. It is then up to the prosecutor to prove you wrong.

But yeah, freedom! Why do you believe you live in a free country.

Perhaps they will tattoo your number next, just after birth because you don't remember the pain.

Free country .... my shiny butt.

P

For the purposes of the test, it was not only to uniquely identify you, but most likely also to facilitate a background check, if you have not already had one.

a reply to: Stevemagegod

here is the official reason from the horses mouth

The Social Security number (SSN) was created in 1936 for the sole purpose of tracking the earnings histories of U.S. workers, for use in determining Social Security benefit entitlement and computing benefit levels. Since then, use of the SSN has expanded substantially. Today the SSN may be the most commonly used numbering system in the United States. As of December 2008, the Social Security Administration (SSA) had issued over 450 million original SSNs, and nearly every legal resident of the United States had one. The SSN's very universality has led to its adoption throughout government and the private sector as a chief means of identifying and gathering information about an individual.
The Story of the Social Security Number

originally posted by: hounddoghowlie
a reply to: Stevemagegod

here is the official reason from the horses mouth

The Social Security number (SSN) was created in 1936 for the sole purpose of tracking the earnings histories of U.S. workers, for use in determining Social Security benefit entitlement and computing benefit levels. Since then, use of the SSN has expanded substantially. Today the SSN may be the most commonly used numbering system in the United States. As of December 2008, the Social Security Administration (SSA) had issued over 450 million original SSNs, and nearly every legal resident of the United States had one. The SSN's very universality has led to its adoption throughout government and the private sector as a chief means of identifying and gathering information about an individual.
The Story of the Social Security Number

"Gathering information on an individual."


And to what depth...