At 10:27 AM -0400 7/6/00, Duncan Frissell wrote: >> Finnegan's other victory came last March in the form of >> Bill Gates' Social Security number, which was >> accidentally filed along with a routine SEC filing. It is >> also highlighted on SEC Info. "Why did I highlight it?" he >> asked rhetorically. "Just kind of for the fun of it, and >> because I'm trying to say, 'This is what we have.'" > >It wasn't "accidently filed". SEC filings used to require SS >numbers. Once they went on the web, filers complained and the rules >changed. Mr. Bill was trying to refile the earlier form sans SS >number. > >DCF >---- >I knew America was in trouble when I found that the application to >join the Sons of the American Revolution asks for your Social >Security Number. I just had a funny SS story. I agreed to sell a small sliver of land to one of my neighbors so that he could comply with the setback rules for building an addition to his garage. Just a small piece. Well, the bureaucracy for selling even a few thousand square feet of land is enormous--permits, title searches, seals of approval, forms, more forms. He's responsible for _all_ of the paperwork, per our agreement. Yesterday, the day escrow was to close, and the day before he and his family leave for the East Coast for several weeks, he comes to me in a panic saying that the title company needs to have more information from me. Huh? So I called his real estate agent, calmly. "The title company needs more information." "OK" "I'll need to know the name of your mortgage lender." "OK, here it is...." "And I'll need to know your Social Security Number." "Nope. I don't give out my SS Number except under limited situations. " "But...but...but I may need your number in case they ask. I may need to access your account. It's standard." "Sorry." "So, how are we going to resolve this little problem?" (hint hint) Most people would yield at this point and say, "Oh, all right..." I didn't. I told her the obvious point: the lender could call _me_ if he had any questions. As it happens, my lender uses the last four digits of my SSN--which is now available on the Net, courtesy of the U.S. Government and the court system--as the password into my account! I haven't heard what finally happened. Did the escrow close? Who knows, who cares. This is the real state of security in America: the wide use of Social Security Numbers as passwords for financial accounts. --Tim May -- ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, "Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.
