Social Security numbers could be used for ID theft

According to many security experts, consumers must be careful about which entities they give their Social Security numbers to. In an article for MSNBC.com, security expert Jesse Emspak writes that despite the fact the numbers were never supposed to be used for identification, more and more they are being used for that purpose. Emspak explains that the reason that Social Security numbers became a common way of businesses to identify customers is because it costs them less money to input the numbers rather than create a whole new ID system for employees. This is not the first time that this type of thing has happened. "It's the same reason your driver's license became the age-verification token," said Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at BT in an interview with the news provider. "It was there." Identity theft continues to cause issues for both companies and consumers alike. The issue costs Americans billions of dollars each year when criminal elements use their identities to open credit card accounts and run up balances.