Fun fact, there is a lifetime limit for the number of replacements you can get for these (I forget but I think it’s like 12), if you lose too many no more social security card for you
True story if you run out of attempts they give you a poncho and deport you to Australia
Shit.
It’s not impossible, just harder. They’re going to need documentation for it.
But SSN is the root of all identity documentation, except birth certificate I guess
Well it’s more like proving you need it issued again. Although they are going to ask for supporting ID documents too.
There was a fad a long while ago where people would get their number stamped onto a metal card. Only ever got to see one of them after years working at a casino where we collected SSNs for jackpot payouts.
Where I live people just have the number memorized. Fairly easy when it’s just date-of-birth and some three numbers and a letter.
Slip it into one of the thicker plastic baseball card sleeves. It’s a perfect fit, can be easily pulled out, and provides excellent protection.
My mom laminated mine when I was like 6 years old. It still has my 6 year-old, childish signature on it. Every time I use it someone says “you’re not supposed to laminate these”, and then they accept it anyways. So who’s the fool now?
My ex’s dad laminated his whole ass birth certificate. He had a bitch of a time fixing that lmao.
Though I think people ask for birth certificate less often than they do our SIN (and also our SIN cards are actual literal cards in Canada not just pieces of paper).
I always thought my birth certificate was the little vanity one with my feet prints on it. I learned it isn’t when I actually needed a birth certificate for the first time. Since I live in an entirely different State now it was a bit of a PITA to get the real one.
They stopped issuing cards and just print it on a full 8.5"x11" piece of paper now actually lol.
Someone explain to me why we can’t laminate it.
And also how one can unlaminate it (asking for a friend)
Stick it in your microwave oven on high for about 10 minutes.
I believe the primary reason is that there are counterfeiting counter measures, and if you laminated it, it would make it hard to use verification methods that allow you to make sure it’s a real one. They want to know that it is not copied, altered, or otherwise illegally fabricated.
Also, it should be noted that this is an identification card that can allow you to do crazy things like apply for official documents and loans. This number is extremely helpful for people wanting to steal your identity. I believe the idea is that if you lose it, it should degrade and disintegrate so you can get a new one without worrying that your identity will be stolen. Although, this is just my speculation.
Also, you’re not really supposed to carry it around with you, the ideas that you would put this in a safe document storage place until you need it for something specific.
Security features used to verify the validity get covered when you add a plastic film.
I’ve been asked for the number many times, of course, but I didn’t think I’ve ever had to show my physical card to someone in my entire life.
There are no security features on a ss card.
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110201060
One or more of the following security features appear on SSN cards issued since 10/31/1983:
• Tamper-proof background
• Color-shifting ink
• Intaglio printing in some areas on the front of the card
• Latent image on the face of the card visible only when viewed at specific angles
• Red fluorescent nine-digit alphanumeric number on back (beginning February 1996)
• Intaglio microtext in signature line (when magnified, the line is actually letters spelling out SOCIAL SECURITY)
• Yellow, pink, and blue planchettes (small discs) randomly displayed on the front and back of the card
• Anti-copy pattern that is discernable when the card is photocopied
• For original cards, a dash in each column on the same line as the SSN
• Date the card is issued [i.e., Cycle Date (CYD) from the Numident] is printed under the signature line on the face of the card (beginning April 2007).
So glad I was born in ‘82 so I could avoid all this security stuff
That’s interesting, I had no idea they modernized it.
But none of that is on in the photo. Mine doesn’t have that either. (Pre 1983)
Same. But mine still says not to laminate.
I’ve had to provide the physical card at the start of most jobs I’ve had. What’s that form you fill out? I-9?
Looking at the list of required documents, I may have used a passport at some point as that appears to trump everything, but mine has long since expired and I haven’t been bothered to get a new one.
The jobs I’ve had have surgery been w9 or 1099
I needed two forms of ID for my current job and I used my license and passport
You never had a job in your entire life?
You’ve had to present your physical social security card when accepting a job?? I have never and I’ve worked for a dozen different companies
Yes. For taxes. You work under the table or something? Lol
Never had to show the physical card myself either. Put the number in the online form and done. And yes I am taxed
Maybe it’s regional? They don’t ask for my card in Michigan. But I do need to present it for a few things done at the SOS office. That’s the DMV in Michigan.
That’s possible. Pretty sure it’s for state and federal taxes though.
You don’t necessarily need to present your Social Security card as far as I know - I linked to what I think are the requirements below. I used my birth certificate and driver’s license at my current job, for example. https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents
I mean, when every place specifically asks for your social and ID, yeah you do necessarily need to present it.
I ain’t carrying my birth certificate around with me.
You shouldn’t be carrying your social security card around with you either.
There are other forms of id that are valid; for most jobs I’ve provided my driver id and my passport
I can’t say for the US. In Canada I’ve never had to show the card. Just say the number.
That’s a US ss card in the thumbnail. We’re obviously talking about the US
They weren’t disputing that it’s a US card though…
Never said they did.
Sorry, I responded to the wrong comment. Meant for this to be to the comment above yours. Whoops.
They weren’t disputing that it’s a US card though…
Just knowing the number has been enough for every job I’ve ever had. The only place that has ever cared about the physical card is the DMV.
Every job I’ve had has made a copy of the card for payroll/tax purposes.
And this is where the weirdness starts. I’m in Canada and early in I learned from a relative who was in government and finances told me that your SSN is only meant for the government and government services and nothing else.
Banks, companies or corporations do not need to see your SSN no matter what they say. The number was only ever supposed to be used with the government, taxation, government benefits and services.
Banks and companies just started using it as a shortcut to identify people and connect them to government services and taxation. But it was never a requirement, no matter what they said. It’s the banks and the companies job to verify who you are.
I started my bank accounts as a teen in the 90s and with a bit of help, I was able to start them without a submitting a SSN. Every job I had, I actively refused to submit a SSN and told them why which with a bit of arguing they agreed. Funny part is, even though I never submitted one, the bank and every major employer I had already had the number anyway.
Your employer pays a portion of your social security taxes and generally withholds your portion to give to the government on your behalf. How do they correctly do that without your social security number?
From the link you’ve provided.
Documents that may be used under “List C” of the I-9 to establish employment eligibility include:
- A U.S. Social Security card issued by the Social Security Administration
- birth certificate issued by the U.S. State Department
- Etc
I’ve scanned my driver’s license but never my social security card!
The intent is for it to completely disintegrate by the time you need to claim benefits and can’t remember your SSN.
j/k, the completely disintegrating part is true, the last part is that there won’t be any SSN benefits by the time Gen Y and later gets around to retiring.
The whole design of the SS system is that current workers pay benefits for current retirees. The trust fund was created later in preparation for retiring boomers.
At worst, it goes back to the original system and benefits get reduced to match what workers are putting in. That might be as high as a worst case 20% reduction, but it’s not going to go away entirely. As others have mentioned, even that is completely avoidable.
This is right wing rhetoric meant to convince people that cuts to social programs are needed as a way to make social services solvent, fyi.
Social security is funded by the current tax payers, taxes were raised so that the social security could have some extra money to buy us bonds, allowing them to cash in those bonds later when boomers retire en masse. Eventually the bonds will be gone and social security will be ‘insolvent’ but this is ok! Social security is always being paid into and social security can be paid out with general funds, or by increased tax rates, or by increasing the cap on SS taxes.
There is not actually any indication that social security is going anywhere other than Republican fear mongering.
There will be benefits. Congress has at least five courses of action they can take but will just leave it till the last minute for drama and to make people vote.
I googled it, they say it might obscure security features which would mean it wouldn’t be accepted. They recommend a plastic case that can be removed.
presumably to be able to verify it’s the correct material/has the right anti-counterfeiting stuff?
You can. This is a myth.
Try using a laminated ss card to get a drivers license. (Real ID).
I obviously did and there was zero issues.
Interesting in Minnesota they would not accept it
The only thing anyone’s ever done with it is photocopy it. Lamination doesn’t affect that at all.
There’s no “security measures” on mine. Maybe there is on more recent ones though.
I was born in the seventies. So not much in the way of security there. Maybe the newer ones have something for security and it’s just a blanket policy.
because i said so
-Gov’ment
I laminated mine, never had an issue.
Punish me, daddy government
Not to defend the social security number system (because it’s terrible for unique identification of individuals and when it was created it wasn’t even intended to be used for that purpose) but you’re not supposed to carry it around with you all the time. It’s supposed to be in a drawer/safe/fireproof bag with the rest of your important documents, and only brought out when you need it.
Why make it a card then? If it’s meant to be stored as a document then it should be the size of an envelope, or a standard A4 sheet.
I keep mine attached to the envelope sized paper it came on. But it shouldn’t be a card shape, that encourages people to carry it. My grandpa always carried his.
Don’t mention A4 paper, it scares the Americans. If any of them could read, they would be very afraid right now.
A4
Is that a type of rifle? I’ll take 12!
You’ll get either 8 ½ or 11 and you’ll like it.
Hey now, I can read…but, what’s this A4 paper you speak of?
8/11.5 but more metric
sips tea and extends pinky
Am I doing metric right?
Actually no, the Brits shit on us for it but by most approaches they’re actually even worse than we are
The bruvs be usin’ STONE out here and acting like they get to crack wise
You mean 8.5/11?
More Square root, you mean!
8/11.5
Not sure if a joke or an actual paper size
Actually a size. More commonly referred to as “letter” sized. It’s 8x11.5 inches, which is pretty close to A4, but it’ll confuse printers if you mix the 2 up.
but it’ll confuse printers if you mix the 2 up.
So far all printers I’ve seen can switch between both. The real problem is your Writer/Word document, because after the slight reformatting it’s now all over the place.
It’s actually 8.5x11 not 8x11.5
It’s a size of paper with an aspect ratio of 1:√2, and the short edge that is 21cm long. The long edge will then be 21√2 = 29.7cm. The aspect ratio has the interesting property that it can be halved and doubled while remaining constant.
This has been your ISO fact of the day.
Subscribe to ISO facts
ISO 7304-2:2008 defines a standard for cooking spaghetti. Subsection 3.9 “Completeness” closely resembles “al denté” but isn’t true al denté; as 3.9 states “no white core visible” when a noodle is inspected crosswise with a razor blade. Al denté phase is sensed via the teeth for texture differential of the inner and outer part of a spaghetti. No agreement has been reached by international consortium of Italian food preparers and dentists as to which tooth is to be used. Thus, the standard must be reviewed every 5 years by sensory analysis.
Today I’m going to use paper to feel superior to someone else.
Amateur, we professionals don’t have to use anything for that
To be fair, simply not having to live in the US already gives that rush.
Using entirely reasonable standards that most of the rest of the world has adopted is too hard for us for some reason.
This week on “Things Non-Americans Think Americans Don’t Know About!”
Right?
Like just because we export all our media to you (because it’s better) and make fun of our stereotypes in that media, doesn’t mean that most of us are like that. Believe it or not we actually have cool stuff that’s uniquely American.
And the reason you see Kraft singles is because we don’t want to share our BBQ with you.
export all our media to you (because it’s better)
Lmao. Get back to me when you’ve got something like Taskmaster, Would I Lie To You, or QI.
You’re proving my point though? Those all look like C rate game shows that show up in the worst time slots here in the states.
If you said Doctor who, like 15 years ago, then I’d give you a solid maybe.
American here, you’re straight up wrong. We have no equivalent to their panel shows. Comparing them to game shows is like comparing open heart surgery to being stabbed.
look like
Yeah that’s an American problem. Preferring a glossy looking garbage over something non-glamorous but substantial.
FYI I’m neither American nor European.
We can’t do everything for you guys. We’re holding down the imperial system almost single handedly. Help a brother out.
America has the Squid Games reality show and Mr Beast. They’re kind of like Taskmaster if the point of Taskmaster was dangling life changing money in front of poor people.
They’re nothing like Taskmaster then lmao.
Idk. Maybe because there’s only a few pieces of info on it. Someone would say “why do you need to use a whole sheet of paper for just this?”
I’ve lost my place to stay more than I’ve lost my wallet.
Every time ya try to fix the NatID problem though suddenly it’s a surveillance state system and not just an efficient nexus for federal services and permissions.
There are some people who don’t want a national ID system because they think that’s like a biblical prophecy. Somehow those people are still allowed to operate heavy machinery.
Some people don’t want it because they don’t want a functional government.
Ain’t that the truth. Fuckin’ lunatics.
That’s the thing. At this point, anything that could replace ssn cards will be much more technical and much more invasive.
Does it even matter when data brokers already know everything about you and happily sell that info?
People freak about national IDs while happily giving all their info to websites like amazon or facebook. It’s insane.
No, it would be less technical since it would cut down the number of cards you have to carry around, and be less invasive since it would drastically raise the difficulty of identity theft
Eh… You guys all use credit cards anyway
They voluntarily put webcams in their houses with several known security issues which transmit everything open in the cloud. And they purposefully have a listening device which transmits to Amazon whatever they talk about in order to be able to listen to music without having to use a mouse or tap on a screen.
But having an ID with a photo on it? That’s where they put the line
oooo yeah my ID card is so invasive, it has my birth date and a photo on it!
For real. Mine’s about 40 years old and still looks pretty mint.
I’ve had mine laminated for almost fifty years.
Your SS card doesn’t look a day over 40. <3
Your SS card
So they moved away from tattoos huh
Aww
Oh you
I’m getting “wallet” vibes which should absolutely not be where one keeps important documents. I had mine in a shoe box under my bed as a teen and it survived unscathed.
Heck, I have a 15 year old free pizza stamp card from a shop that permanently closed in better condition. Haha!
Edit: someone came through and downvoted every comment for the heck of it? Haha! Youuu get an updoot, and yooou get an updoot… etc.
Hopefully you’ll get to cash in that stamp card one day! Give it another 15 years.
SSA will give you a free replacement card. I think TRUMP wanted to charge money for it, but not sure if that plan went through.
Why is Trump in all capitals?
That’s how the man himself writes his name.
Are you assuming his capitalisation?
Was Trump a SovCit this whole time? Does he think TRUMP the corporate entity created by his birth certificate was elected President in 2016 rather than he the living person, and thus he can’t be prosecuted for crimes that the corporate entity created in his name allegedly committed?
This might actually work 🤔
I assume a lot of things about that guy.
Only up to 10 in your lifetime though:
But weirdly only if it was issued after 2005?
There was an antiterrorism law that was passed in 2004 (as a result of 9/11), that went into effect in 2005 that set this limit.
There are a few (difficult, but possible) ways to get extra copies despite the limit though, like changing your name
I never knew you couldn’t laminate them? Why would they do something like that?
Canada issues their SSN cards in hard plastic, which IME is far superior to any credit card plastic. It’s been in my wallet since 1990 and while it looks old, it’s in better shape than almost all of my credit cards - none of which are older than 5 years.
Oh, you forgot the part where you are only allowed a fixed number of replacements in your lifetime.
10 in your life. 3 each year.
Mine is still in the envelope it came in nearly 40 years ago and is still attached to the perforated paper card. Why carry it with you and destroy it? I’ve never on a whim needed to show it to anyone.
Edit: missed a word.
Yep. There’s no reason to carry this around with you on the daily. Stick it in a file in a safe file box of some sort. I can’t remember the last time someone asked for a physical SS card…maybe when we applied for my kids’ passports? No idea.
Maybe OP applies for a lot of jobs and is brown enough to be told they need to actually see it? Iunno
Scanning is allowed? A photo?
Any verification requires the physical document.
That’s just plain stupid… Get a federal ID already like most countries.
While you’re at it, get the metric system too!
Eh, I can’t remember the last time I needed to show my social security card. It might have been 2006, when I moved to this state. It’s EXTREMELY rare that we need the physical card. We need the number more often, but most people will have memorized that.
Still, you cannot change the number and it’s a disaster if it leaks, which is very easy. Instead, our country uses IDs with chips that can be used with standard readers to securely authenticate with government and private services online. There is also a changeable PIN and optional third-factor authentication. People who cannot or don’t want to use the system need to visit the institution or a CzechPoint site and show the physical card and their face.
Yeah. In our case it’s worth noting that the social security number system wasn’t designed to be used the way it is used. It was just meant for retirement tracking.
Now if we tried what you described, we’d probably have people screeching about the number of the beast and new evil Democrat deep state conspiracy theories. Sigh.
I understand social security to mean paying into a state pension, a national healthcare service, and provision of education.
What does social security mean in the American context?
It was originally just a number to track contributions to quasi-pension system. However, because it was the only number universally assigned to people, it stated getting used way more often, most notably for credit issuers and reporting agencies.
Irrelevant to the topic at hand. This is a social security card, which displays your social security number, which is the closest thing we have to a national ID. It is used for all things financial and for identity verification & background checks. If someone gets your name, address, and social security number, you can be in for a real bad time.
Which is unfortunately easy to do. There are some of those search sites that include SSNs on them. Haven’t seen one that detailed in a few years, but still. Just today I found a site that had addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and relatives. All accurate and all freely available, no registration required.
When I was a food service manager I inexplicably had access to the social security numbers of everyone who had ever applied to work there. Thousands.
Oh no
Especially when Equifax leaked nearly half of all Americans’ names, social security numbers, addresses, birthdays, and driver license number in 2017. That info is just out there and we can never remove it.
At least they were punishe… Hahahaha as if.
To add to the problem, social security was never meant to be an national ID number. It was just really useful for a whole lot of things. However, numbers are handed out sequentially, not randomly. So take your SIN and add or subtract one from it and that is another person’s SIN. Knowing just a few simple things about a person can reveal most if not their entire SIN.
Depends on who you ask. For millennials and younger, it means paying lots of money into a service that will be dissolved before we get to tap into it.
It’s also a number that’s supposed to be kept secure or something, but applying for pretty much anything requires you to provide it.
Yeah, it became a sort of federal identification since the US government didn’t want to make a federal ID and now we are stuck with a much more inferior system than if they just did anything. Since everyone got a SS card it became the de facto ID.
It pays the state pension which is good for a tiny fraction of retirement.
Depends what your spending is like. Someone who earns like 30K/year should get about 65% of their earning if they retire at 65. You’d have to save like another $1500/year (including company matches) to make up the difference.
If I kept working til I was like 70 and my pay only keeps up with inflation, I’d get about 130% of my spending via social security.
In the US Social Security is retirement income. SS tax comes out of every paycheck then when you retire you will get monthly income. So state pension but none of the other good stuff.
