Identity Theft and the Things We Carry: Employee or Student ID Cards

This is the final segment of my “things we carry” blogs. I know I've mentioned ID cards before, or at least student ID cards, but some things deserve repeating.

Employee and student identification cards are not a problem in and of themselves. Many schools and probably all universities require student IDs in order to register for classes or to use student only facilities, and many companies require employs to carry identification for the company's security. However, the problem is when employers and schools print the owner's Social Security number on the card which becomes a security risk for the employee or student. Many schools and companies that did this have already switched over to provide new ID numbers for the identification cards, instead of the Social Security number. If your school or company has a your Social Security number printed on your ID card, you may want to suggest that they give you a different identification number and may even suggest switching over to a system that does not use Social Security numbers on ID cards at all. It may be an expensive effort, but it will be safer for everyone.

Your Social Security number is the main component needed to open credit cards in your name or take out loans and other services. You can make this all the more difficult by removing any document with your Social Security number from your wallet completely.