Local and State Authorities Cannot Ask for Your Social Security Number –Truth & Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
This email seems to be trying to convey the message that you don’t need a Social Security Number and anybody who asks for it or denies you anything because of not having a Social Security Number is committing a crime.
The Truth:
First, the Public Law referenced (93-579) is the Right to Privacy Act of 1974. That act says nothing about whether a person is or is not required to have a Social Security number. It does protect citizens from requests for Social Security Numbers from Federal, State, and local agencies. If any of those entities asks for your Social Security number, you can require that they tell you in writing whether such disclosure is mandatory, why they want it and what they are going to do with it. In some instances, such as arrest, you are still required to give it. The same act says you are not to be denied a “right, benefit, or privilege” for not giving your Social Security number. The law does not prohibit your employer from asking for your Social Security number. Subsequent acts in congress have allowed states to use Social Security numbers for things like state and local taxes and drivers licenses (Tax Reform Act of 1976), and in marriages, divorces, and professional licensing (Welfare Reform Act of 1996.) Tax protestors argue that there is no technical requirement to have a Social Security number. That may be disputed, but the requirement to pay taxes and other required uses of Social Security numbers make it a practical requirement. Federal law requires employers, for example, to request and report Social Security numbers.
This particular email (below) has been sent to truthorfiction.com by several people and is sloppily written, filled with legal mumbo-jumbo, and misleading.