Your Social Security number may not be unique to you

Tom Barlow
Updated
overlapping social security logos
overlapping social security logos

How many times do companies use your Social Security number as the unique identifier for you? Your doctor, bank, employer, all depend on the number for billing and recording transactions. A troubling new study by ID Analytics found that, according to the wide-ranging company and government records it has access to, millions of Americans have more than one Social Security number, and millions of Social Security numbers are shared by more than one person.

Just how many? Out of the 280 million Social Security numbers the firm studied across its network of databases,

  • More than 20 million people have more than one number associated with their name.

  • More than 40 million numbers are associated with more than one person.

  • More than 100,000 Americans have 5 or more numbers associated with their name.

  • More than 27,000 Social Security numbers are associated with 10 or more people.

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