Recent news stories suggest the social security number (SSN) has been ‘decoded’ and that this ‘discovery’ increases your risk of identity theft. It’s mostly hype and exaggeration. Still, there are precautions you can take.
Your social security number is often a gateway to your private life. Bank records, medical records, etc all rely on those magic nine digits. If your number is compromised, it’s much easier to get to your private life.
The Wall Street Journal reported “a new study says that mundane information like birth dates and hometowns on social-networking profiles can be used to accurately predict a user’s Social Security number, a key to identity theft.” According to the article, “researchers correctly guessed the first five digits of a person’s Social Security number about 40% of the time, just by knowing his or her hometown and birth date.”
