Social Security officials urge limits on use of numbers

Social Security Administration officials Wednesday stepped into the increasingly contentious debate over what to do about identity theft, reiterating their support for legislation that would ban the sale or display of Social Security numbers by the private sector and the government.

Business representatives on a panel concerning the Internet's role in identity theft also sympathized with the plight of identity theft victims, and described an array of tactics they are deploying to combat it. But they stressed their need to obtain Social Security numbers as a means to cut down on fraud.

At an agency conference on identity theft, William Halter, deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration, lauded Congress' criminalization of identity theft in 1998, and praised measures under consideration that would further restrict the display of Social Security numbers by the private sector.

"We are even more committed to ensuring the privacy and integrity of our processes" by ensuring that government agencies, including the Social Security Administration, are cautious when they issue new numbers and when they take steps to shield the numbers' display, Halter said. "It is clear to us that [identity theft] victims are subject to a process that is extraordinarily painful to them," he added.

Beth Givens, director of Privacy Rights Clearing House and the moderator of a panel on the Internet's role in the problem, said she had purchased access to her own Social Security number from a Web site--in order to demonstrate the prevalence of disreputable businesses. Selling Social Security numbers to private individuals is against the self-regulatory principles established by the Individual Reference Service Group, an association that provides information about individuals linked to their name, address, and Social Security numbers.

"There are things that consumers can do to reduce the amount of identity theft, but the answer lies in industry practices, and legislation, and lawsuits where negligence is involved," said Givens, who has criticized the self-regulatory principles as lacking in accountability.

But industry officials said blanket bans on the sale of such numbers would be counterproductive. Joel Lisker, senior vice president of security and risk management for MasterCard, said the cardholder association had developed SafeScan, a database of Social Security number that are known to have been stolen or misused.

"Sadly, if there is not a Social Security number that can be used, industry will be forced to develop something similar to it" in order to combat fraud, said Mallory Duncan, general counsel of the National Retail Federation, adding, "We need strong laws to limit access of Social Security numbers to the general public, but industry needs access to this information, coupled with confidentiality requirements."