	Background

In 1935, title II of the Social Security Act created the Social Security retirement program to pay benefits to retired workers. These laws and regulations generally limit the use of the SSN to the required purpose by explicitly prohibiting other uses or disclosures. Federal Laws and Regulations Require SSN Use in Some Public Programs

A number of federal laws and regulations require the use of the SSN as an individual’s identifier to facilitate automated exchanges that help administrators enforce compliance with federal laws, determine eligibility for benefits, or both. Businesses and Governments Use SSNs Extensively

The advent of computerized record keeping has led private businesses and government agencies to routinely use SSNs for activities other than those required by federal laws and regulations. Because there are so many users of the SSN, we focused on describing SSN use by organizations that routinely use these numbers for activities that affect a large number of people: organizations that sell personal information, provide financial services, and offer health care services and state government agencies that are responsible for collecting personal income tax and licensing drivers. Federal law does not prohibit such disclosure of SSNs. Credit bureau officials told us that customers are not required to provide SSNs when requesting reports, but requests without SSNs need to include enough information to sufficiently identify the individual. Officials in the health care industry expect their use of SSNs to increase. The Social Security Act authorizes states to use SSNs to administer any tax, general public assistance, driver’s license, or motor vehicle registration law in order to identify individuals affected by such laws. State income tax administrators routinely use the SSN as a primary identifier in their programs. For example, tax administration officials said they use SSNs to cross-reference owners’ or officers’ business income tax returns with their personal income tax returns so that an audit of one triggers an audit of the other. Business and State Officials Believe Federal Laws Restricting Uses of SSNs Would Have a Negative Impact

Officials of the programs and activities we reviewed believed their entities would be negatively affected if federal laws were enacted restricting use of SSNs. State tax administrators and credit bureau officials said that federal restrictions could hamper their ability to conduct routine internal activities. Officials of businesses that sell personal information and driver licensing agencies also believed that federal restrictions on SSN use could make it difficult for others to obtain specific records from them. Organizations and Agencies We Contacted Concerning Their Use of Social Security Numbers

Scope and Methodology

We identified federal requirements and restrictions governing Social Security numbers (SSN) by using a list prepared by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that identified federal laws addressing SSNs. We developed information on programs’ required uses of SSNs by interviewing officials at the following: SSA’s Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs; the Internal Revenue Service’s federal personal income tax program; the Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicare, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Child Support Enforcement programs; and the Department of Agriculture’s Food Stamp program. We did not verify the accuracy of the information provided.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how the social security number (SSN) is used, focusing on: (1) federal laws and regulations requiring or restricting SSN use; (2) how extensively the private and public sectors use SSNs for purposes not required by federal law; and (3) what businesses and governments believe the impact would be if federal laws limiting the use of SSNs were passed.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) no single law regulates the overall use of SSNs; (2) the Social Security Act, which created the social security programs for which the SSN was developed, did not require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to devise SSNs; (3) however, once SSA created and began using SSNs to help administer its programs, Congress recognized the universal nature of the SSN and subsequently enacted laws requiring SSN uses for some purposes not related to social security; (4) federal laws now require that SSNs be used in the administration of some programs, including the federal personal income tax program; the Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Food Stamp, and Child Support Enforcement programs; and state commercial driver licensing programs; (5) some of these laws impose restrictions on SSN use relating to the programs or activities involved; (6) no federal law, however, imposes broad restrictions on businesses' and state and local governments' use of SSNs when that use is unrelated to a specific federal requirement; (7) the report additionally addresses businesses' and governments' uses of SSNs for purposes not required by federal law; (8) officials of all of the organizations GAO reviewed--businesses that sell personal information, those that offer financial and health care services, and state personal income tax and driver licensing agencies--routinely choose to use SSNs as a management tool to conduct their business or program activities; (9) credit bureau and state personal income tax officials, for example, said they use the SSN as a primary record identifier for internal activities, such as maintaining individual consumer credit histories and identifying income tax filers; (10) all the organizations said they used SSNs to facilitate data exchanges necessary to their business; (11) they use SSNs to obtain information to assess credit risk, locate assets, or to ensure compliance with their program rules and regulations; (12) GAO reports officials of the organizations as saying their ability to conduct routine internal activities and data exchanges could be adversely affected if the federal government passed laws that limited their use of SSNs; and (13) however, given the public's concern about the disclosure of SSNs, officials of businesses that sell personal information and driver licensing agencies said that some members of their industry have taken steps to limit disclosure.