Post by Lucky225I have a SSN, I just refuse to give it out. Remember the Privacy Act
does not prohibit the private sector from having SSN requirement
policies, but there is also no law requiring you to submit an SSN when
applying for credit. When I'm asked for my SSN I simply decline
stating that my SSN does not prove my credit worthiness, my credit
worthiness proves it!
Which is all well and good, but the question I always wonder when
talking to the nobody-gets-my-SSN folks is, why do you care? What
horror will befall you if somebody uses a random (well, almost random)
number to more easily identify you and your 600+ credit score?
Sure, you can bludgeon your way through creditors withholding your SSN
if you really want to, but what does it get you (besides making it 10x
longer to get credit, since you have to work your way up the foodchain
to bypass the "usual" way of doing this!)
If it's just to prove a point, fine. If it's because you want to t
ink you're keeping your privacy, what are you keeping private? An
assigned number- not your identity. You really want to impress us
with your powers of privacy? Get credit without using your NAME!
Post by Lucky225If the companies policy prohibits me from
obtaining a service without submitting SSN then I leave.
Personally I try to shop for the best deal- not simply take the only
vendor who'll put up with a schtick like refusing to give an SSN.
When I was a Cingular agent, I had one customer who refused to give an
SSN. I put him on the phone with a Cingular CS supervisor. He told
her (correctly) that no law could force him to give his SSN, and the
rep agreed, adding that no law could force Cingular NOT to assess a
deposit if he refused. Not being as adamant about it as you, I
suggested a compromise. He gave the SSN directly to the supervisor,
but we kept it off of all paperwork, in order to minimize the number
of places it was recorded (as an independent dealer, I was required to
keep a copy of the contract at my place of business as well as forward
two copies to Cingular.)
Post by Lucky225Something to
keep in mind is the Fair Credit and Reporting Act says creditors must
have a legitimate reason for denial of credit, failure to obtain an
SSN is not a legitimate reason as there is a host of other means to
obtain your credit report.(In reality all you need is a name date of
birth and address, these things narrow the search down to YOU, unless
you have a twin living at your house with the same name or something
crazy like that) If the creditor's computer system will not allow
them to submit an aplication for credit, I always offer to have my
report mailed to them or I can give them my transunion file number and
they can order it directly from transunion.
So, while you won't allow the world to know a random number issued to
you by the SSA, you'll toss around a different one issued by a credit
bureau to anyone who asks? What's the difference?
Post by Lucky225As to the person who thinks you need an SSN for credit, are you a
fucking moron? How do you think foreign nationals obtain credit? or
are they not worthy of credit simply b/c of their citizenship status?
They may be worthy, but it's a lot more difficult procedurally for a
foreign national (or you) to obtain credit. The SSN is a convenient
shortcut. It confirms an individual's identity much more reliably and
quickly than any other method. (Do you think there was only ONE John
Smith born on a particular date in, say, 1970? So name, birthday,
place of birth, etc. are needed to isolate a particular John Smith.
Name and SSN alone can identify an individual.
Post by Lucky225Remember, your credit worthiness determines if a lender will give you
credit, not your SSN.
Of course, but you run the opposite risk, as well- a creditor trying
to ID you might assume that a "deadbeat" with your name is you since
you won't give an SSN that would easily establish you are NOT the
"wrong" John Smith.
I'm not picking on you, or suggesting you change a behavior that
obviously seems to work for you, but I've still yet to hear a good
reason to withhold my SSN from a creditor. The law protects my
privacy, there are penalties for the misuse of my SSN, and I am
protected from the fraudulent use of my SSN from identity thieves. I
was actually angry that when I moved to Colorado last year, I was not
allowed to use my SSN as my driver's license number. (In the la t two
states I lived in, your SSN was your DL # unless you objected, and a
random number was issued instead.) Colorado won't allow SSNs as DL
#'s, but the do allow you to have your SSN printed on your license if
you request it, so I did.