this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
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A US social security number, AFAIK, is a random, unchanging 7-digit number assigned at birth to all citizens participating in society (non-Amish), used as the main, often only, factor in authentication for online services. It was never meant for this originally and a great portion of them has leaked and the system still hasn't changed.
Of course, virtually all countries issue passports and driver's licenses. Some have a digital identity system like the social security number. However, my country has ID cards that basically serve all three functions (physical+digital ID, border permit, driver's license)* within most of Europe. I have only been outside the EU/Schengen area twice (after my country joined, that is) and my passport was enough so I never needed a vacation card. I don't even think they are a thing here, but I guess you might need one from an embassy along a visa to visit Russia.
* All Schengen states accept each other's ID cards for identification purposes so a passport is redundant. Legal guardians can get a chipless ID card made for kids aged 0-14 for a small fee, cheaper and faster than a passport.
Physical driver's licenses are still being issued but don't need to be carried within the Czech Republic since 2024 as the ID card is enough at a police stop. They are still required for driving in the rest of the EU (for now), and an international one is needed elsewhere. The optional chip can be used as the main factor for online authentication that is WAY more secure than the US SSN.
SSN is now usually called “Tax Payer ID” to refocus it on its purpose (and to better support immigration). It was never meant to be an ID, does not issue anything that ought to be used as an ID, and has been discouraged for years
I don’t have SSN on my passport or drivers license and I thought RealID prohibited it. I do remember having to check a box for my drivers license to not use it but that was 30+ years ago. Sometime in the past three decades it became standard to not use the SSN, at least in my state, although I couldn’t narrow down how long ago.
….. and yet a social security card is one of the pieces of “ID” needed to get an ID in the first place. It’s just a printed form, not even laminated, yet we have to use an official copy?