http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6004657Oh my.
Ms. Ed, the unappellated eohippus, being paranoid again.
First, cabbages, now social security numbers. What next?
Horse with no Name (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-07-09 03:10 AM
Original message
Study claims the Social Security numbers code has been cracked
It was only a matter of time.
But rest easy, the SS numbers that are released starting next year will be more random.
http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2009/07/07/59102
>>>>snip
“It’s good that we found it before the bad guys,†Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh said of the method for predicting the numbers.
Acquisti and Ralph Gross report in today’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they were able to make the predictions using data available in public records as well as information such as birthdates cheerfully provided on social networks such as Facebook.
For people born after 1988 - when the government began issuing numbers at birth - the researchers were able to identify, in a single attempt, the first five Social Security digits for 44 percent of individuals. And they got all nine digits for 8.5 percent of those people in fewer than 1,000 attempts.
For smaller states their accuracy was considerably higher than in larger ones.
This is hardly news.
franksolich's paternal ancestor applied for social security numbers for his two youngest children when franksolich was eight years old. The numbers were consecutive, and the region in which the applicants (children) lived at the time of the application was clearly identifiable; not where they lived at the time of birth, but where they lived at the time of application.
Ho-hum.
imdjh (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-07-09 03:30 AM
Response to Original message
1. I didn't know there was a code.
I thought they were issued in sequence, maybe with some numbers representing your state.
That was sort of the way it works, or worked.
Horse with no Name (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-07-09 03:33 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. It's been a long-held secret of the formula that they developed the numbers from.
I had a former patient many many many years ago that worked for the Social Security Administration and she said that even as high up as she was, they weren't told what the formula is.
I think some of the numbers are the state, one links back to the city, and one links to your parents. At least, that is what I have noticed on mine and my kids.
Some numbers link to the state or an area in the state, but as to the city or parents, nope, nope, nope.
monmouth (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-07-09 07:13 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. The first three #s as I understand is the State, the second two #s are the county. The last four is a mystery to me.
Yep, nope, random.
The stuttering primitive:
ccharles000 (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-07-09 03:36 AM
Response to Original message
3. interesting
liberal N proud (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-07-09 06:01 AM
Response to Original message
4. Interesting
The primitives need to bone up on things, learn up on things, although I suspect the primitives need to learn a whole lot more basic essential elementary fundamental things about the world, than how social security numbers are assigned.
