Another question for Americans

I have been re watching my Person of Interest DVDs and in one episode Elias is being processed in prison and is asked to give his Social Security number and he just rattles it off. My question is "Do most American know their Social Security number by heart?".

Here in Australia I have

A Tax File Number
A Customer Reference Number for Centrelink (Centrelink is our social security department)
a Medicare Number
a Personal Information Card (which I use for ID instead as I don't have a licence

I know none of these numbers off by heart as I don't need to use them very often.

For what things does an American have to use his/her SSN for?

Other nationalities can feel free to tell us about how their governments identify them.

 

I've known mine since 7th grade when I needed to know it for the SATs.

At university, it was my student ID # with a '9' attached to the front, until someone realized that was a bad idea and gave us other ones.

A few work-related websites use the last 4 digits of your SSN as a password.

I can also rattle off my credit card #, though, so memorizing things has never been an issue for me.

 

i've known mine by heart since grade school. mostly because the last four digits had to be entered into a computer so you could get lunch.

 

Yes, most people do. You need it for job applications, hospital forms, credit cards applications, banking purposes, tax forms---and as a form of ID for many, many things. So, yes, you should know your Social Security number by heart. Most, but not all, Americans do.

 

^ This. You write it on so many forms you know it by rote. There was also a time in my life (University) when I could rattle off my driver license number the same way for the same reason.

 

I've known mine by heart since the 5th grade, so yeah.

 

Are you assigned a Social Security number at birth, or when you start school, or does someone have to apply for it?

 

This might help?

And not American, but I can rattle off my National Insurance number if asked. It's not needed as much as a SSN, but it is needed from time to time, especially concerning new jobs and pay and other such things.

Is there nothing similar in Australia?

 

Same here.

 

In Australia we have a Tax File Number which is used in very limited situations, all of which are related to tax

1) filing a tax return
2) once you are employed you give it to your employer so that tax can be taken out of your wage. It is never put on a job application.
3) for superannuation purposes
4) when applying for Centrelink payments

It isn't used for indentification purposes at all. You can open a bank account without a tax file number but if you do not give it to the bank your interest is taxed at the highest rate.

The Medicare card is used to go to the doctor, and to make any medical claims etc

My Centrelink customer number is used for dealing with Centrelink and for applying for any pensioner concessions etc

Often Australians have to provide proof of identity for various reasons (to open up a bank account, apply for government service etc) and generally you need 100 points of ID. A birth certificate or a passport is worth 70 points and most other things (Medicare Card, concession card, insurance document, paid utility bill, school record etc) are worth 25 points. One has to have a 70 point document and 2 25 point document.

We do not have to show any ID to vote. When dealing with a non-government organisation I only have to show my Personal Information Card (most people show their driver's license).

 

Yes, I had to get a social security card at 12 when a savings account was opened in my name. I memorized my first driver's license too, which was 16 digits. Nowadays, I'm lucky if I can remember my street address.

 

742 Evergreen Terrace.

I wondered how things like that worked in other countries.

 

I could also rattle off my NI number if needed.

 

I know my SSN by heart.

 

Pretty much sense i got my first job.

 

It's interesting how many numbers we have memorized by the time we're adults. Way, way too many, in my opinion.

P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney Australia.

 

Wouldn't using your SSN in so many ways make identity theft all the easier?

 

What Miss Chicken said basically.

I know my:
Tax File No.
Drivers License No.
Centrelink (Govt support) No. (well, nearly, I keep forgetting because I hardly use it).
Credit Card No
Work EID No.
Moblie phone no. (crucial these days)
And that's aside from email adresses etc.

 

like others have said, theres the national insurance number in the uk, but i have no idea what mine is. i have a card with it on. somewhere.

 

It certainly increases the risk, and social security numbers aren't well guarded, either.