Social Security number required for cell phone

[Vote Tyler Stearns]

I think it's important that we continue communicating with each other when we encounter problems getting services rendered because we won't divulge our SSN.  Let's keep sharing the names of "bad" companies and "better" companies, and our successes and failures in battling the intrusiveness into our personal lives and information. It will help us all learn and become more proactive.

I shared my story with a co-worker who has since stopped giving out her SSN.  She probably wouldn't have stood up against the cable company that was demanding it if she hadn't heard that there are others out there who are battling this problem, too. 

Thanks for all your input so far.  I'm looking forward to taking my daughter to Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon for a surgical procedure in two weeks (well not the procedure part) and seeing what types of personal information they try to cajole out of me. 

[jaqeboy]

I was hoping we could put these efforts under the aegis of the CASPIAN-New Hampshire chapter. I'm proposing a "self-help" side to the organization (has had a legislative agenda exclusively so far, but is now fairly idle). The chapter is seeking a leader, at present, and I'm unable to step up to do that because of an excess of commitments already. Wanna be the leader? - set up meetings, set agendas, notify people of meetings, update webpage, etc.? It's a position available for the volunteering.

I could PM you my proposal for this "self-help" side of the org, if you are interested.

[J’raxis 270145]

I was hoping we could put these efforts under the aegis of the CASPIAN-New Hampshire chapter. I'm proposing a "self-help" side to the organization (has had a legislative agenda exclusively so far, but is now fairly idle). The chapter is seeking a leader, at present, and I'm unable to step up to do that because of an excess of commitments already. Wanna be the leader? - set up meetings, set agendas, notify people of meetings, update webpage, etc.? It's a position available for the volunteering.

I could PM you my proposal for this "self-help" side of the org, if you are interested.

Hey, Jack,

I was hoping to help out with this, too. I haven't seen you at the Taproom past few weeks and our discussion on this just sort of petered out. I see that Katherine Albrecht is going to be at the LFoD Festival on 2007-08-25, so I was hoping we'd speak with her then and try to restart this. I'm probably going to be primarily busy with the Manchester Free Press stuff for a while now, but I think I'll still have some time to devote to it. I'm doing the IT stuff for the MFP and I can probably do the website work for this.

[jaqeboy]

Yeah, work commitments late in the day have been keepin' me away from the Taproom on Tuesdays. Just PM me your real email address and I'll send you a Word doc proposal for the self-help side of CASPIAN-NH that I'm proposing.

Thanx, J'rax..

[Lasse]

How are SSNs required for cell phones, is it gubermint regulations or the companies themselves asking for it? Not too familiar with U.S. laws, over here we have a national 'birth number' with birth date and a five-digit 'personal number', and it's required for everything.

If it's the companies asking for it, there should be a competitor willing to take in those who don't wish to give up their information. In a free market, you can tell the statist supporting companies to sod off.

[jaqeboy]

United States Treasury Department regulations require their agents (banks and employers) to "ask for" a man's Social Security Account Number, but since there is not even a requirement that a man have one, the regs write in the procedure that the agent is to follow if one is not produced.

Remember that the regulation only applies to the agent for the government. The banker (or other financial services worker) or employer are the only 2 people that the Treasury regulates the procedures of, since they both are required to file returns on their respective account holder/employee's business. The regulation does not apply to the man (account holder/employee).

There are no treasury regulations that apply to the wireless phone providers (or video rental stores, or yada, yada...). The credit reporting agencies use the SSN as a convenient unique identifier, since it is convenient. The utility company, wireless phone provider, etc. have apparently instituted procedures which has them calling the credit reporting agencies for a credit check and the agency doesn't want to give false information and risk exposure to liability, so they want to identify the inquiry uniquely, and the SSN is their ticket to uniqueness. So, if you don't produce one, the agency won't produce a report to the inquiring phone company, hence, the phone company treating you like you have no credit or bad credit - security deposit, please.

[slimpickens]

to lasse , your birth number is equal to our Social security number.

there is a form to officially rescind your enrollment with ss. admin. therefore saving you 7% taxes or 14% if you call your self self-employed.

i use a Go-phone from cingular, pre pay 10 cents a min.

you can get a tax ID number instead of the social to get a business account at bank or credit union.

if you do contract work, no one is asking for a ssn. and nobody is reporting anything.

slim

[Quantrill]

Take the battery out when you're not using it. And if you do suspect it's being used as a bug while it's ostensibly off, see if it's warm when it shouldn't be, and see if your battery is dying faster than it ought to. They might be able to hide their buggering of your cell phone, but they can't break the laws of physics.

My cell battery has been dying much faster lately.  Sometimes it won't even last a full day.  Maybe I should buy a Yanni cd and crank it up when I'm not around my phone?

I guess the easy way to find out if I'm being monitored is to spout off anti-gov't rhetoric and see if the feds come calling...

[E-ville]

to lasse , your birth number is equal to our Social security number.

there is a form to officially rescind your enrollment with ss. admin. therefore saving you 7% taxes or 14% if you call your self self-employed.

i use a Go-phone from cingular, pre pay 10 cents a min.

you can get a tax ID number instead of the social to get a business account at bank or credit union.

if you do contract work, no one is asking for a ssn. and nobody is reporting anything.

slim

If you dont want to give out a SSN why would you want to give out a tax ID number? ssem like 6 of one half dozen of the other.

[slimpickens]

RE:If you dont want to give out a SSN why would you want to give out a tax ID number? ssem like 6 of one half dozen of the other.

I only give the TIN to bank, no one else has it.
no way to cross reference my whole life.

[ThePug]

I dunno how it was when all y'all (yes, "all y'all") were in school, but my public HS in Arkansas uses SSN for everything. Every single standardized test (of which there are at least three or four a year) has my full SSN on it, though they call it "Student Identification Number" as if it's not the exact same digits as my SSN. The ACT also requires it (I haven't taken the SAT, but I'm sure it does, too). Then there's the "last four" thing. They use the last four digits of my SSN for my computer network password. 

What's worst about it is that I can't just refuse to provide it. If I did, my teachers would just fill it in for me. At test time they always have a list of names and numbers for the kids who don't have theirs memorized.

I hadn't even thought about it until reading this thread, but now that I realize it I'm a bit ticked off about it. Maybe I'll say something next time I'm supposed to provide it.

[KBCraig]

My cell battery has been dying much faster lately.  Sometimes it won't even last a full day.

That's the reality of battery life. The more times it has been recharged, the shorter a charge lasts. Heat is also a killer. And the weaker the signal, the more power your phone expends seeking a stronger signal.

My LG phone is over three years old, with its original battery. Some days, when I have to leave my phone in my truck, in the Texas heat, in a weak signal area, I go from a fully charged battery to blinky in 12 hours.

Instead of the Yanni CD, you can just take the battery off if you're really concerned.

[Braddogg]

Instead of the Yanni CD, you can just take the battery off if you're really concerned.

Yeah.  I know they're evil for trying to spy on you, but for god's sake the agents are human; have a little mercy!