🚀 go-pugleaf

In <comp-privacy2.5.2@pica.army.mil> lachman@netcom.com (Hans Lachman) writes:

>In article <comp-privacy2.1.10@pica.army.mil> johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes:
>>>What experience have people in this group had in keeping the SSN of a newborn
>>>private?  I have heard that some hospitals insist on submitting the paperwork
>>>to the Social Security Administration to obtain the number.
>>
>>Getting an SSN for a child involves the parent filling out and signing a
>>form and sending it to the SSA.  What's the hospital going to do if you
>>refuse to fill it out, keep the baby?
>
>It would seem reasonable to decline their offer to set your kid up with an
>SSN since he won't need one until he starts working.  I was born in '63,
>and didn't get an SSN until around age 10, and the world didn't come to an
>end.  I suggest you just act like not having a number is the most natural
>thing in the world, and maybe we'll infect others with that attitude.

Nope, you now must get a social security number for your child by
age 1.  The SSN must be included on the parent's tax return.  This was
to cut down on the number of false dependents reported on tax returns.

[Moderator's Note:  This is *only* true if claim him/her as an exemption.
 ._dennis ]

When I went through this 2 years ago the hospital didn't require
that you fill out the SSN paperwork, it was done as a service since
it'll have to be done within a year anyway (unless you aren't required
to fill out a tax return, which covers very few of us).  Of course, if
you don't want to claim your child as a dependent I suppose you don't
need an SSN.  I'm not sure the IRS would mind if you pay the extra tax
instead.

I've heard that according to IRS records several million children
disappeared in the U.S. in the couple years after 1986 (when SSNs for
children were first required) -- nonexistent dependents which people
quit listing.

I doubt there's a big privacy issue regarding the child -- the
hospital sends birth information to the social security administration
which sends the SS card and number direct to the parent.  There may be
some information on the application which the hospital doesn't have on
either the birth certificate application or insurance records, but I
doubt it's much.