🚀 go-pugleaf

From article <1392@ns.network.com>, by jmh@ns.network.com (1606):
> In article <880@jhereg.Jhereg.MN.ORG> mark@jhereg.MN.ORG (Mark H. Colburn) writes:
>>In article <508@thor.wright.EDU> jsloan@wright.EDU writes:
>>>And I guess while we're at it, I'd better mention that Social
>>>Security Numbers are not, and were never intended to be, unique.
	:
>>It really depends on what you mean by unique.  However, for each social
>>security number which is currently assigned there had better be exactly one
>>living person which corresponds to that social security number.
	:
> I know of one case in which two individuals were assigned the same
> social security number.  Too make matters worse, one of them stole
	:

Any large organization that uses SSN as an identifier can tell you that
the SSN is not unique. The chance of duplication is slim, but non-zero.
The SSN is assigned on the basis of year, where you applied, etc. One
of our student information systems database people can take your SSN
and tell you all sorts of interesting things about yourself. The SSN
was originally intended to be an index into a particular file folder in
a particular file drawer in a particular file cabinet in the Social
Security Administration. Remember, this was devised before the SSA was
computerized.  In that file folder could be several people's files...
unlikely but possible. I agree that in 99.999999% of the time it is
unique. And I agree that 99.999999% of the organizations that use the
SSN assume it is unique. And I agree that in 99.999999% of the cases
they are safe in doing so. But they are not guaranteed to be unique.

John Sloan  +1 513 259 1384         jsloan%spots.wright.edu@relay.cs.net
Wright State University Research Center   ...!uunet!ncrlnk!wright!jsloan
3171 Research Blvd., Kettering, OH 45420       ...!osu-cis!wright!jsloan
Logical Disclaimer: belong(opinions,jsloan). belong(opinions,_):-!,fail.