Time: Thu Apr 17 13:41:01 1997
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Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 13:20:07 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: AP Article on SSN's (fwd)
<snip>
>
>I am forwarding this post due to the nature of the material
>the fact that the SSSI has been an issue on this list for
>a little while now. I believe it will demonstrate some of
>the things people need to know and understand in order to free
>themselves from the tyranny.
>
>I apologize to anyone who may consider this off topic.
>
>William Gordon
>
<snip>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Here is an Associated Press Article that news outlets have had in their
>databases for over 2 weeks but have been prohibited from using (called an
>embargo) until April 14th. As such I am releasing it to you and suggesting
>that we should all monitor our papers closely to see if our papers run the
>story and if not, contact your editor and ask WHY, and if so commend them
>and write an editorial yourself so the spin increases to a point where wide
>spread awareness results. If your paper does not run it, please forward
>this article to them from the AP and DEMAND that they run it. Also please
>note below that I have included the email addresses of every domestic media
>outlet that I know below.
>
>
> Yours, ralph@TeamInfinity.com
>
>
>
>April 14, 1997
>
>*554*Cyphered Society
>*636*Alarm Grows At Rising Demands For Social Security Numbers
>
>By ROXANA HEGEMAN
>Associated Press Writer
>@/mNEW ORLEANS _ Martin McKay didn't vote in last fall's elections.
>Louisiana refused to let him register.
>Although he is a qualified resident of the New Orleans suburb of
>Kenner, he refused to give the state his Social Security number.
>Voting, he argued, is a constitutional right. ""It's not conditioned
>on anything.''
>McKay sued.
>McKay, a health-care worker, is among a growing group of people who are
>alarmed about the widespread demand for Social Security numbers.
>They see it as a creeping invasion of privacy and worry that,
>with a Social Security number, prying eyes can tap into a person's lifetime
>earnings history, credit background, medical records and other personal
>[brought to you by:ralph@TeamInfinity.com http://TeamInfinity.com/urls.html]
>information. Heightening the fear are reports of criminals using someone
>else's ID number to obtain credit in their name.
>Some of the critics go further. They raise the specter of the biblical
>""mark of the beast'' and liken it to Hitler's stamping ID numbers on Jews
>in concentration camps.
>On the other hand, police and government workers see the Social Security
>number as a fast way to keep track of criminals, as well as ordinary
>employment and health histories.
>Last week the Social Security Administration allowed public access to its
>databases via the Internet, but the site was shut down almost immediately
>over concerns that the ease of access violated privacy rights of people
>with Social Security accounts.
>Access to confidential records was granted to anyone giving an individual's
>name, SSN, state of birth and mother's maiden name.
>""As soon as crooks start exploiting this service to get other people's
>information, Social Security is going to have a real problem on its
>hands,'' Evan Hendricks, chairman of the U.S. Privacy Council in
>Washington, told USA Today.
>Louisiana is among the most aggressive users of Social Security numbers,
>but the practice is spreading to unprecedented levels _ not just for state
>and federal programs, but in private industry as well.
>For example, a little-known provision of a recent federal law establishes a
>new ID system to use Social Security numbers to track medical records, said
>Don Haines of the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C.
>The health ID number _ for private insurance as well as federal Medicare
>and Medicaid _ would put a person's lifelong medical history into a
>government computer database, Haines said.
>Another increase is embedded in a little-noticed provision of an
>immigration law signed by President Clinton in September. The act prohibits
>federal agencies from using state driver's licenses for identification
>unless the licenses include a Social Security number. (The law does provide
>an exception for the 30 states that don't require Social Security numbers
>on their licenses.
>
>No-Surveillance Promise
>When Social Security was set up in the 1930s the American people were
>solemnly promised the number would never be used for anything other than
>Social Security.
>That promise has been broken, Haines says. He anticipates that growing
>concern about a national ID number will lead to federal legislation
>controlling the private use of Social Security numbers.
>""I am surprised that people are so docile about it, they seem to go along
>with the government,'' said Joe Cook of the ACLU in Louisiana. ""It is
>really scary because the Social Security number has become a de facto
>identification number _ the kind of thing you find in totalitarian,
>authoritarian societies.''
>The use of Social Security numbers for identification is often tempered by
>each region's cultural and historical influences. Western states,
>traditionally a bastion of individual rights, are among the last holdouts,
>though Arizona allows residents to choose between using their Social
>Security numbers or another number on driver's licenses.
>Some states in the Northeast and Midwest not only require Social Security
>numbers for licenses but also fingerprints.
>And Southern states are especially intrusive, some say, probably remnants
>[brought to you by:ralph@TeamInfinity.com http://TeamInfinity.com/urls.html]
>of various requirements left over from efforts to control its black
>population.
>Louisiana, for example, collects Social Security numbers for driver's
>licenses and voter registration. The state also wants the number for a
>hunting or fishing permit. And in some areas a child's Social Security
>number is required to register for public school or even to get a public
>library card.
>
>Freedom Of Religion
>Louisiana was quick to use the new immigration law to justify its extensive
>use of Social Security numbers.
>Until March of this year, Louisiana driver's licences had Social Security
>numbers on them. But the state lost a lawsuit, so people now have the
>option of keeping the number off. Drivers must still give the motor vehicle
>department their Social Security number for their records, however.
>The lawsuit, filed by Mark Marchiafava, said that using Social Security
>numbers violated his freedom of religion. Just months after Marchiafava won
>his case, Mary DeFraites sued on the same grounds.
>Their basis is a passage in the Book of Revelation: ""And he causeth all
>... to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that
>no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark, or the name of the
>beast, or the number of his name.''
>McKay's recent trial about his right to vote took about 10 minutes before
>U.S. District Judge Marcel Livaudais, who is yet to rule. The judge earlier
>refused to allow McKay to vote while the case is pending.
>McKay's attorney, Vincent Booth, called the lawsuit a matter of principle:
>""He just doesn't think information of this personal nature needs to be
>disseminated any more than is absolutely required or permitted by law.''
>
>Privacy Laws Cited
>Booth argues that federal law _ specifically Public Law 93-79 Section 7 _
>prohibits the government or any of its agencies from denying an individual
>any right, benefit or privilege because that person refuses to disclose his
>Social Security number. The law allows an exception if the agency required
>the Social Security number before Jan. 1, 1975, the date the federal law
>was adopted.
>Booth also argues that the SSN requirement is a violation of the National
>Voter Registration Act of 1993.
>In a similar case in Virginia, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
>[brought to you by:ralph@TeamInfinity.com http://TeamInfinity.com/urls.html]
>in a 1993 case that using Social Security numbers as security for voting
>was an impermissible infringement on the right to vote, Haines says.
>Louisiana's voter registration requirement that a person provide both a
>Social Security number and their mother's maiden name makes a person
>especially vulnerable to financial fraud, since those two pieces of
>information together can be used to open credit card accounts, Booth says.
>Booth adds that it didn't make his client feel any easier that in the past
>the state has used prison inmates as data processors.
>For its part, the state contends the information is safeguarded.
>Elections officials argue that the Social Security number is one of
>the best identifiers it has to check for duplicate voting registrations,
>convictions and deaths.
>""This is something very important to maintaining the integrity of this
>system,'' says Alan Elkins, assistant commissioner of elections.
>Louisiana, the first state to computerize its voter registration records,
>does have some older registrations that don't include Social Security
>numbers, Elkins says. But the state has the numbers of about 90 percent of
>its voters.
>Even Gov. Mike Foster got into the fray last year when he nixed a $1.8
>million deal in which the state planned to sell driver's license pictures
>and data, including Social Security numbers, to a New Hampshire company.
>Image Data wanted the information to sell to businesses as a guard against
>credit card fraud and for debt recovery. The company, which is working on
>similar deals with other states, puts the information into a nationwide
>electronic database.
>Saying there's ""got to be some right to privacy,'' the governor killed the
>sale because the Social Security numbers would have given the company
>access to personal information about Louisiana's 2.5 million licensed
>drivers.
>### END of AP Article
>
>
>
>LETTER from SSA Proves SSN NOT required to live or work in US
>=============================================================
>
<snip>
>
> We regret the delay in replying to your inquiry about the
> necessity of having a Social Security number (SSN).
>
> The Social Security Act does not require an individual to
> have an SSN to live and work in the United States, nor does
> it require an SSN simply for the purpose of having one.
> However, if an individual works without an SSN, we cannot
> properly credit the earnings for the work performed.
>
> On the other hand, other laws require people to have and use
> SSNs for specific purposes. For example, the Internal
> Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 6109 (a)) and applicable regulations
> (26 CFR 301.6109-l(d)) require an individual to get and use
> an SSN on tax documents and to furnish the number
> to any other person or institution (such as an employer or a
> bank) that is required to provide the Internal Revenue
> Service (IRS) information about payments to the individual.
> There are penalties for failure to do so. In addition,
> people filing tax returns for taxable years after
> December 31, 1994, generally must include the SSN of each
> dependent.
>
> Section 205(c)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act requires the
> Social Security Administration to establish and maintain
> records of wages and self-employment income for each
> individual whose work is covered under the program; an SSN is
> used for that purpose. The IRS requires employers to report
> SSNs with employees' earnings. if you object to providing
> your SSN to your employer for religious or other reasons, you
> may wish to contact the IRS office in your area to see if any
> exceptions are allowed.
>
<snip>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness
email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU
web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration
ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best
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Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this
========================================================================
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