In the 90s and into the early 2000s, I sometimes wrote about ways to avoid using social security numbers. Going without an ssn (as many of you know from having tried it, as I did for many years) was always challenging. It also put the un-numbered in the position of being an outsider in society. Still, back in the day, you could do quite a few common things without using a universal government ID number.
Since 9-11 that challenge has become much harder, well-nigh impossible for anyone desiring to live a semi-normal 21st century life. Some succeed. Joel’s a perfect example. But he’s also an example of the extreme sacrifice and creativity it requires. Joel’s existence is as precarious as it is gratifying, and can’t in any way be called even “semi-normal.”
Me? As I got older, I eventually found being numberless more than I wanted to live with.
Several times a year I get messages from people who are trying to live numberless or, even more laudable, trying to keep their children unnumbered. They want my advice on how to overcome this problem or that. I got one of those messages the other day. This is my reply and will be the only reply I ever again make to such requests.
To wit:
1. The world has changed. “Security” and people-tracking rule.
2. While it’s an outrage that the government has turned so many rights into privileges requiring licensing, permissions, and tracking, as long as you are seeking privileges from government (e.g. drivers licenses), you are going to have to bow to government conditions. Or find your own workaround. Or find grounds to sue. Even in the articles you cite from back then, I never said you could get government privileges while remaining unnumbered. Why are you even asking me that?
3. Nobody is going to make this easy for you. Nobody was ever going to make this easy, but it’s much more difficult now. Only you can decide whether it’s worth it to you to evade, fight, refuse — or give in and live more normally. And having decided, you will need to use your own will, your own ingenuity, your own money, whatever it takes to live as you choose.
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I have seriously mixed feelings about these pleas that come in.
On one hand, I applaud people for trying. I also bear some responsibility for having ever encouraged them (though in my defense I’ve always said that nobody should ever do anything just on the word of some writer).
On the other, I can’t help but notice that not a single one of these pleas, over the years, has ever contained the words, “I’ve done extensive research on my own, but ….” Not one has ever said, “I know I’m asking for personal advice, so of course I’ll be glad to pay …” Not. Ever.
It doesn’t really matter now because I have nothing useful to tell these people. A consult with me would be worth $0. Heck. Ask Joel how he does it. Offer him some payment. He could use the money and has much more relevant information. But you’re not going to like what he has to say. Not one bit. Because another thing I’ve noticed about these requests, over all the years I’ve been receiving them, is that everybody seems to want it to be easy. They want to find ways for themselves and their kids to live exactly as their more compliant neighbors live. No, they want other people to find those ways for them.
And who can blame them?
I chose to step back within the system — a choice that has both benefits and a price. If you choose to remain outside, good for you. You are a better person than I. But if you make that choice and still expect to get everything you want from government and from the increasing number of institutions the government controls, then … well, good luck to you.
Good luck to us all.
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If anybody in the Commentariat has anything useful to offer people about how, in the year 2014, you can still get a drivers license, a bank account, or other services and privileges without a government ID number, by all means chime in. I truly hope it’s not impossible. And these poor hopeful souls would love to hear some good news.
I just try to minimize the annoyance of giving the government’s number to those who ask. By avoiding dealing with those who will ask, mostly. When it can’t be avoided, I sometimes correct them- “It’s not ‘my’ number- it’s the government’s number they assigned to me”. Not that it makes one bit of sense to them.
I purposely have not memorized that number- although I know what digits are in it (mostly), I don’t know what order they go in, and I don’t use it enough to bother learning it. I also won’t carry that card (which I laminated just as soon as I discovered it was prohibited to do so- and also added some commentary to the words on the front, too), so if someone springs the request on me, I have to just walk away and find someone else to do business with. Or, I have said “I don’t know the number, but if you insist on putting one down I can make one up”- that actually sometimes still works. It worked at the Walmart “money center” several months ago- although they freaked out like I was a terrorist or something.
If I am going to have to deal with some government pinhead- and I know it ahead of time- I dig out the card and write the number down on a scrap of paper. But, seriously, I avoid those people like I avoid rabid hyenas.
Yeah, it would probably be easier to just memorize the number and give it willy-nilly to anyone who asks. But where’s the fun in that?
Hey! I’m semi-normal.
On alternating Thursdays, anyway.
…and then commenting after having actually read the whole post…
What Claire said. If you need to do anything that requires “Government-Issued Photo ID,” you’re gonna need SSN. And you can’t just make one up; they check.
Lots and lots of things require “Government-Issued Photo ID.” Good luck holding a conventional job without one, for example. Good luck holding an unconventional job without upsetting the taxman.
So very true, Claire. It is an almost exact parallel to the health questions I’m asked at times. When I don’t come up with a short answer that solves their problems for them, EASY, and at no cost… well, they go away unhappy.
This year I will have to renew my driver’s license. Last time I just showed them the old one and signed the paper, paid the money and was on my way. I have heard (need to research) that this year I’ll have to come up with a birth certificate, records of all my name changes, marriages, divorces and possibly a whole lot more. Since the only difference between me now and four years ago is four years… does not make any sense, of course.
The thing is that none of that information is unavailable to any government entity that wants it. I don’t stand to lose anything whatsoever by attempting to satisfy their stupid “rules” now. The funny thing is that I’ve not been asked to show the driver’s license since that last “renewal,” and I hadn’t shown it to anyone before that since I got a bank account the first month I lived here. It actually serves no purpose that I can see…
At this point, the risks and potential costs of not having it are fairly high, and so it simply is not worth tweaking their beaks to defy the requirements. Maybe next time that will be different, of course. By then I’ll be 72 and may no longer even be interested in participaing at all – one way or another.
Everyone has to evaluate their needs, abilities and the risks for themselves. Make informed, principled decisions and then live with the consequences. TANSTAFL
It was possible to find imperfect workarounds up until the turn of this last century. If one laid the groundwork back then it was possible to cling to the vestige of privacy to some degree but I’ve noticed that much of this has been chipped away over the last several years.
Until a year ago the bank that holds my business account just ignored me except to levy monthly fees – then about the same time the the DOJ decided to vilify certain types of businesses and encouraged banks to scrutinise their clients better they decided to light a fire under me. The original account paperwork seems to have been lost down some black hole due to several mergers. Initially they seemed ready to simply cut me loose but eventually decided that bringing me ‘up to compliance’ would suffice.
Haven’t been to a hospital or doctor as a client for over 25 years so I don’t know how that’s ever going to play out should I require those services. I do know that even a regular dental visit can get pretty awkward without the SSN – even paying cash.
The state where I hold a DL didn’t require a SSN when I last updated it – and the license was issued for what then seemed an incredibly optimistic length of time. The state tried to encourage me to go in and update the license several years ago but the ‘invitation’ included no real threats other than not allowing me to use their online system so I ignored it/them. On the rare occasions I have to produce the license it’s treated as some sort of oddity – no bar code or magnetic strip – like something I whipped up in the basement!
There are times I wish I’d laid a more extensive foundation in this area but I can also see now that it probably would not have held up under current circumstances and would have cost me more in patience and could have resulted in legal issues. In the absence of widespread disobedience in this area one is simply the oddball nail that needs driven into place.
I won’t give my SSN to stores or medical offices. I always pay cash to stores, anyway, and when an office asks for SSN, they give in when I challenge them on their “need to know.” One secretary said, “But we have to ask this,” and I replied, “Well, I don’t have to answer.” At that point, she dropped the subject.
[To PNO: That would not fly at a hospital.]
State and Federal authorities have had my number for years, and it won’t leave me until I die. I’d rather save my energy for the fight when they come to take my guns, than worry about a number that’s already on record.
I remember back in the 90’s when I butted heads with various companies and organizations regards Social Insurgence Numbers (the SIN is the Canadian equivalent to the SSN). Back then it seemed that everyone wanted to use the SIN as a form of ID. I even had hassles when getting a new cell phone, yes I would be asked to provide a SIN for the transaction. I used to tell them I didn’t have my SIN card with me and make up the number. This all changed with the introduction of The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). This severely limits the data that can be collected to the point that even government agencies don’t use SIN’s as ID unless it is for employment, social assistance or banking.
These days I have come to the realization that when tilting at windmills it hurts me more than the wind mill. So now all I do is simply give them the SIN if I’m dealing with a government or bank and they ask, but I don’t volunteer it. If the government agency doesn’t have the right to use the SIN then I simply report them. I know it’s like urinating in a wet suit, you get a warm feeling and nobody notices.
I suggest doing the opposite.
Get your child several SSNs, and several birth certificates. All under different names.
Your offspring can either keep the alternate IDs, or burn them, once they become adult. Their choice.
I come at this from the opposite end of things, from the computer side.
When you build a database, you want a unique identifier for the records. When the records are about people, that means something like an SSN. The point is, if the identifier is not unique and permanent (such as a name or address), then the database becomes impossible to maintain. Bottom line, any database is going to have a unique identifier in it.
This is generally pretty innocent, but becomes a problem when the same identifier is used for all databases. Then the databases can be linked, and privacy goes out the door.
I find this annoying, but I don’t spend a lot of time on it. I just use cash when I can and do not respond to casual questions about me, or if there is some business I am doing I make them justify their curiosity. Really, what has bugged me lately is people asking my zip code and things like that when I purchase some product. I always say “No” to that.