A Step Toward ID Protection

Military family member ID Cards will soon undergo some changes.  The coming changes are a step in the right direction. 

Pentagon to phase out SSNs on ID cards

Social Security numbers will disappear from the ID cards of military family members by the end of the year, temporarily replaced by the Social Security number of the military sponsor in a half-step toward better identity-theft protection, defense officials said Thursday.

In 2009, the Defense Department will take the next step of phasing out full Social Security numbers on all ID cards for service members and civilians, replaced by just the last four digits. Using those digits, combined with other identifying information, is a common practice in the private sector.

New cards will be issued as old cards expire, defense officials said.

Officials described the ID card changes as part of a phased approach to improving identity protection for service members, civilian employees and their families. The first step was to improve security over military databases. A second step was to remove Social Security numbers from Tricare health system ID cards, defense officials said.

Getting Social Security numbers off the ID cards of family members is considered a high priority because they make up about 2.2 million of the 3.4 million people who have military-issued common access cards.

Congress has been pressing the Defense Department to move faster because of the risk of identity theft. A Social Security number, along with a name, address and a few other easily discovered facts, makes it possible to get credit in another person’s name.

The House Armed Services Committee has been pushing for several years for the Pentagon to stop using Social Security numbers altogether, but it has faced resistance because the number is used in both personnel and payroll systems.

**UPDATED** with below article.

Department to Phase Out Full Social Security Numbers on IDs

As a means of combating identity theft, the Defense Department will issue identification cards without full Social Security numbers printed onto them, a senior official said here today.

The Defense Department cares about protecting personal information as well as increasing database security, Mary Dixon, director of the Defense Manpower Data Center based in Arlington, Va., told Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters.

Identity theft is a very real problem today, Dixon explained. Criminals who pilfer SSN-bearing identity cards can virtually assume someone’s identity through a few computer keystrokes and clicks of a mouse, she said.

TriCare, the military services’ health maintenance organization, already has removed Social Security numbers from its members’ identification cards, Dixon said.

Plans are to remove the Social Security numbers from identification cards issued to military family members by the end of this year, Dixon said, noting that those cards still would display the sponsors’ SSN, for now. Between 2009 and 2010, all department-issued identification cards will feature only the last four digits of a holder’s Social Security number, she said.

About 3.4 million people now have department-issued common access cards, Dixon said. Around two-thirds of those card holders are military members, and some civilians who deploy overseas, who have full Social Security numbers printed onto the back of their CACs.

“You might lose that card,” Dixon pointed out, noting that family members, including children, could misplace their identification cards, too.

Modern information technology precludes the need to have full social security numbers printed onto employee and family member ID cards, Dixon said.

“Today, all of our (computer) systems can ‘talk’ to each other, so we don’t necessarily need to know all of that information printed on your card,” she said.

New identification cards will be issued as they reach their expiration dates, Dixon said.

Comments

[plibarmywife]

better late than never... but they really need to get ALL SSNs off our cards and allow for anyone who wants it to get a new one, even though their card has not expired. before everyone yells, I KNOW how crowded/overworked/long lines etc.. but ID theft is so prevalent, and causes such chaos in the life of those it affects, some of us will feel it is worth the severe aggravation.

now the other question is - when will they allow for a reprint of the picture - or a makeup artist/hair person at the facility? ;-}}

LAW

[Linda]

It's about time. My biggest fear has always been losing or having my mil ID stolen, simply because it DOES contain all that information right there on the front. I worry that someone with photographic memory will look at it one day (coming in the gate, at the commissary or PX) and pow, my info's lost (I have quick number memorization, so I know it can be done).

ITA with LAW up there about retakes and makeup/hair person! and maybe some better lighting...and a color photo might be better, since the b&w ones always seem to cast nasty shadows and give me a HUGE nose!

[Erin N.]

I am so glad that they are making these changes! I actually just got a new card and they asked me, for the first time, if I wanted to remove my social from there. I was very pleased that the DoD has taken this step to prevent identity theft. I agree that they should let anyone who wants a new card get one w/o all the identifying social security numbers on it. Identity theft really can mess with a person's life. My husband and I had just our credit card number stolen and that was enough of a mess for us to straighten out...I can't imagine if this person had gotten ahold of our SS #s and maybe an address too. It would have been much worse.
I agree with the makeup/hair person request as well...How nice that would be! Or at the very least a proper countdown to taking the picture. Such as "Three...two...one...click" Instead of "three...two..click!" Is that too much to ask? :-P

[Andi]

I'm a bit dismayed at the way they plan to phase this in. Why not move at once to a four-digit system rather than taking an interiem step? I'm sure people smarter than I, and with more inside knowledge at their disposal, have worked on this, but it seems the middle step could have been eliminated. Who knows.

Regardless, I am thrilled to see this long overdue change. I remember when I first married (dating myself), we had to have my husband's SSN printed (or written) on the check for AAFES and the commissary to accept it.

We've come a long way.

Like Erin, I can tell you it is a nightmare to sort out when something along these lines happen. This is one reason we will be having a show in May with USAA experts on identity theft and how to best protect yourself and minimize the chance that this can happen to you.

[Love My Tanker]

I also don't understand the phase in. It would make more sense to me to simply go straight to the last four, but I will assume, for the time being, that maybe it is a computer systems issue???

Andi, I too remember the days of being forced to write the SSN on checks. Believe it or not, some places on installation STILL require this or they will not accept a check. This must be deemed unacceptable everywhere. Today.

[soldiersgirl]

I am so glad to hear it! Its about time. Mine expires at after summer..and none to early. We just got our account hacked and I am not uber sensitive to all my personal info. Plus, I sure hope they have phased in the hairdressers and make up artists by then!LOL (why do I always look like a convict during pics? Anyone remember the old boards you used to have to put the letters in yourself?)

[NC Wife]

I am a newlywed and not only did they ask if I wanted my social on my ID card, but the nice lady counted down and let me see the picture before she printed it. Its the best ID picture ever!

[Erin]

The thing that always boggles me is that the "last four" are always used to identify people in the civilian world, like when speaking with banks, utilities companies, etc. I love that the military not only uses these items, but makes service members write them BOLDLY on very visible, public items, like their duffle bags at BCT!

[wendy]

My ID card expires in December. I wonder if I will be able to wait until January to renew it so I can get the new safer card?

[HomefrontSix]

My ID card does NOT have my SSN on it. No one is REQUIRED to have their SSN printed on their ID. ALl you have to do is request that your card read "ON FILE" rather than listing the SSN on the card. Mine has been this way since the day I was issued my very first ID card.

It may take some firmness on the part of the spouse (and sponsor) to convince the ID card issuers to do it this way but it IS possible and within regulations.

Wendy ~ you can wait to get a new ID card but you will not be able to access any military-related services in which your ID is required if you choose to do that. I wouldn't recommend doing so. Just ask them to print "ON FILE" on your card.

[Mar*c...]

I feel so glad that they are doing new cards because of ID naping going on today.