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Yes, you can refuse unless you’re Read More

There are a few situations in which you must provide your Social Security (SSN) number to a business, including

Others can get your personal information in many ways including

While you can't always prevent identity theft, you can reduce your risk.

With Visa and MasterCard, no. They both have rules that limit stores from requiring you to show your ID as a condition of purpose. These rules also make them accept your card even if you refuse to show your ID. Read More

Yes. Many stores do this to help identify patterns of return fraud and abuse. Read More

Comments Submitted to the Federal Trade Commission
by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Project No. P075414

September 5, 2007

Tim recently discovered that he had been a victim of identity theft for quite some time. Through a phone call from Qwest Wireless' fraud department, he was informed that someone had been using his Social Security number, but they were not able to verify his city/zip and date of birth. Read More

Stacy has been stalked for several years. It started in college when the stalker got her Social Security number off a list of grades posted by a professor. They used it to track her down whenever she moves (not threatening to physically harm her, but letting her know they knows where she lives). Read More