Americans: WE DON’T WANT ID! IT GIVES THE GOVERNMENT TOO MUCH POWER!!
Also Americans:
Don’t get it twisted, we don’t want to have to use the stupid social security card as ID, either. As a matter of fact, if you have one that’s old enough it says “For Social Security and Tax Purposes – Not For Identification” right on it.
…But every organization in the country, including the government, now uses your SSN and SSN card as a form of identification anyway, and will randomly demand to see the card itself as “proof.”
Canada went the opposite direction - it is now impossible to get an SIN (SSN equivalent), and if you forget it, you have to go to a government office for them to print out a sheet on standard letter sized paper that clearly states to memorise and destroy it.
I mean this system makes so much more sense imho.
A random string of 9 numbers is hardly ID.
But then it appears on all my tax documents that I’m supposed to keep.
the instruction to destroy it is so people cannot demand it as identification like US does.
Shh, those are supposed to be stored in a safe/safety deposit box, only to be looked at when verifying your identity with the government.
Logic doesn’t matter here. The guy you’re responding to just wants to grab at low hanging fruit as a “zing” to Americans.
Come on you can do better.
Yeah but a lot of those americans who don’t want a simple national ID system are idiots. Some of them are delusional “it’s a sign of the beast!!!” people who should be put in a camp.
…And possibly appropriately, those types of people will take your national ID system precisely as the overture to putting them in said camp in the first place.
For the record I’m not against a universal ID, but given that your de facto ID is your driver’s license and that’s explicitly handled by the states anyhow, I find any actual implementation unlikely.
Furthermore, you can also get a US passport card which acts as a government backed nationwide ID already.
My understanding is that it’s printed on such flimsy paper as a sort of identity loss protection. If you lose it somewhere it’ll degrade quickly to the point it’s unusable, hopefully before someone else tries to use it. The downside is, of course, that if you don’t protect it with supreme care, it will also degrade to the point it’s unusable.
My mom laminated both mine and my sister‘s card back in the 80s and we’ve never had any issues with it at all. I opened my first bank account after high school the bank teller lady looked at it and said “wow that is clever!”
My old card was laminated, that and a birth certificate. Dmv refused to take either because of the lamination.
Been there, done that (not American, similar scenario, different card). I felt the person at the counter wasn’t in mood and was trying to make my day worse. Just saying “You legally have to” and if not they won’t budget, “I would like to speak with your superior”.
Does the lamination make it impossible to see the watermarks? Because that seems like a legit reason to reject them. Even if the system is flawed with this restriction 🙈
My first ss card was very basic. Only a background image all clearly visible and it was falling apart until I laminated it.
The birth certificate clearly showed the seal and was still raised even with the limainate sheet over.
It certainly didn’t hide or obscure anything.
And is also required to be sent to Banks and other organizations that are historically terrible at cybersecurity.
I’ve had mine stored safely in an old wallet in a random drawer somewhere in my house for… My entire life at this point.
I have only once ever had to present my card. Sits in a bankers box in storage somewhere, I think?
You’ve made a classic blunder, OP. I have your name and social security number now!
I think my Dad has mine filed in a drawer somewhere. I’ve literally never once used the actual card.
You ever had a job? Every job I’ve had wanted to photocopy the original card along with my ID
I’ve never had a job ask for it. The most they’ve asked for is two forms of id and I used drivers license and passport.
That’s true, they just want two forms of ID and I’ve never had a passport. Good point.
I’ve never had to present my SS card or a photocopy of it for any job. They of course ask for my SSN as they legitimately need it, but that’s it.
New York State requires you to present the actual card to get a license (at least in some circumstances). It was a whole ordeal for me.
I keep mine in a plastic sandwich bag
I’ve had the same leather wallet for like 14 years and the card fits so perfectly in the little card holder without any bending or tearing. I don’t recommend it for people who drink or ride motorcycles, but for my purposes it might as well outlive me.
Yeah, I don’t think carrying around a social security card is the best idea
In fact, for cards printed 2002 and up it literally says “do not carry with you” right on it.
You absolutely should not carry your social security card with you. Your social security number, name and address, is pretty much all it takes to take out a loan in your name. You lose your wallet, you are absolutely fucked.
Don’t lose your wallet, then. 14 years has been a pretty good run for me so far.
If you don’t regularly have any use for it, then that’s understandable to store it away somewhere safe, perhaps even in a leather wallet hidden away to prevent folding, water damage, etc.
Curious why you need it on a daily basis?
The hidden shrine.
I also had the same wallet (also holding my social security card) for approximately fifteen years. It was a replica of a classic NES controller; I paid $15 for it at a GameStop probably seventeen years ago. I had it for so long and got so many comments and compliments about it that it became sentimental for me.
I replaced it with a slim, RFID blocking wallet once the old one started to physically degrade (I was impressed it lasted so long), but it still resides on a wallet display stand on my mantle. I didn’t even know wallet display stands were a thing until I decided to preserve this one.
You can get a replacement card pretty easily. You just can’t get a replacement too many times (I think its 4 or 5) before they become annoying about it.
I looked it up, recently; supposedly only 3 replacement requests in a year and only allowed 10 in your entire lifetime.
What happens if you use up all 10? They kick you out?
Haha; l was wondering the same thing. I’m still on my original card so I’m just opting to, hopefully, never find out.
There you go, that was it! My brain landed somewhere in the middle.
Just replaced mine not that long ago (it had basically fallen apart in the folder it was in).
Now you need to show up in person to an office, and depending on where you are and how many staff got cut that can be difficult.
You can still do it online.
Your SS card is a joke. You can flush it down the toilet. If you need a new one it’s like a 5 minute visit.
Uh… Americans have a lifetime maximum number of reprints.
What are you doing that requires you to replace your card more than 10 times?
Homelessness, house fires, theft, things that are only going to be more common over time?
If all those things happen to you to the effect that you need to replace your card TEN fucking times then you have much bigger issues than your need for a useless card.
It’s not useless, unless you have a passport you are required to have a SS card for employment; and yes some people have bad fortune. In failed states like the US there’s no real safety net so all additional pointless barriers hurt extra worse for those few percent that are extra unfortunate.
Flushing it down the toilet, apparently.
Just put it in a baseball/pokemon card case. Easy enough to get out.
I can’t remember the last time I had to show my card. Usually things have multiple options. Like I9 forms take the social security card, birth certificate, List C docs on https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents
Or places will cross reference with the IRS for certain loans instead of seeing the card since the number is needed and verified through that.
If you memorize your number or at least the last 4 digits, you don’t need to reference it either.
Hopefully things have moved on from the 90s when my state university used it as our student ID number and printed it on the front beside our picture. So we had to show it to people a lot.
It took me 45 mins at the social security office to get a new one. It ain’t that serious
Do it without an id or address. You can’t get an id without an address and you can’t get the card without your id or birth certificate which you also need an id and address. You can’t get a job without an ss number. So if you don’t at least know your number, then you’re fucked.
Hardmode: you don’t know where you were born
Impossibe: you don’t know your legal name.
:pinches bridge of nose:
I’m reminded of talking with bright eyed product guys at work.
It’s not enough to cover the happy path. You have to consider all the edge and corner cases, too. Sometimes people don’t have all the documents they “need” to get a new card. Every hoop you jump through takes a toll, emotionally and in opportunity costs.
