food for thought - online security

I had to special order touchup paint for my '24 Palisade and wait 2 weeks for it to come in. I also found a close color at Hobby Lobby in their art section for less than $10. That went on first and it's close enough to the original to look good until you get close. I still remember the days you would see Dupli-color displays in the parts store.

Dr. Color Chip. Yes, their offerings are pricy but their kits are excellent both in color match and ease of application. This product is what many in the Porsche Club recommend. In my case my 2000 Porsche color was called Arena Red. It was a rare color in the Porsche lineup, long ago discontinued Dr. Color Chip did an absolutely perfect color match. Prior to Dr. Color Chip, and using factory paint, I learned years ago from a Mercedes tech to use a very small brush, the smaller the better. If horizontal barely lay in enough paint to cover the chip. Do this in the shade then allow to dry for a few hours, then use a polishing compound (the finer the better) blend it in.

Dr Color Chip has a spreader in the kit. It is a flexible vinyl device used to spread the pain. It works well and is worth the extra money. With some care in cleaning you only need one even if you have multiple cars as I do.

https://drcolorchip.com/touch-up-paint-kits-premium-packages...

Since 2011 the assignment of SSN’s is random with the algorithm designed to not use an existing number or the number of someone under 105 (I think) who might be deceased. In theory I could be assigned the same number as my father who would be 111 years old, if he still was alive.

In the old system it could be surprisingly easy to determine an SSN.

Prior to 2011 your number was determined by specific geographic and administrative formulas.

Area Number (First 3 Digits): Historically assigned by Social Security Administration (.gov), this represented the state where the applicant lived or applied. Generally, these numbers started lower in the Northeast and increased as they moved West (e.g., 001-003 for New Hampshire, 575-576 for Hawaii). My sister and I, having recveived SSN cards while living in Ohio had the same initial three digits.

The 2nd block of numbers (2-digits) was called the Group Number. This did not have geographic meaning, but rather served to break numbers into manageable blocks for processing. Group numbers were not assigned consecutively; instead, they were assigned in a specific odd/even sequence to divide workloads.

So, if I know where johnnatash4 likely got his SSN card, it would be fairly easy to determine his SSN, given that I know the last four digits which is called the Serial Number. The Serial Number represented a standard numerical series ranging from 0001 to 9999 within each group, ensuring individual uniqueness. But not so unique if released by PayPal as johnnatash4 surmises.

I certainly know how annoying the first chip is on a new car, I only keep cars for 5 years, so that happens a lot. But I'm over it now. Unless it's some serious damage, I just don't really care. Where I live (my so-called "driveway" is like an off-road adventure, LOL), my car is constantly dirty/dusty so you don't really notice little things.

But I'll always remember, working in Philadlephia before I retired, had just bought a new car. Was out in the parking lot with a friend during a break when I noticed a scrape on the door, maybe from a shopping cart or ??? While I was lamenting, my pal said "Congratulations, NOW it's a Philly Car"!

There was a time when SSN was explicitly not a form of ID. Now and days you cant get along without it but early on it was not meant to be a id in any way.

…using SSN as a form of ID. In most cases you can verbally recite your SSN but if you present a laminated SS card it is unacceptable. That happened to me when I was applying for TSA precheck.

My SS card issued in the mid-60s has "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" printed right on the card. But that didn't stop stores wanting your SSN when you cashed a check. So prevalent was the practice that most people had it printed on their checks. Times have changed.
Mark

Years ago, I bought a used 1965 Gibson guitar in very good condition and it had some numbers engraved on the tuners, which I hadn't ever seen before. I wondered if these were some cryptic Gibson part numbers, they looked hand-etched using one of those vibrating tools.

Asking on a guitar website, it stumped others too - until one person said they must have been the original owner's social security number, used as a way to identify it in case of theft (I guess). I think he was totally right, and that also shows a rather different philosophy regarding "personally identifiable information" from back in the 1960's!

And no, if you're wondering, I don't think it was a stolen guitar. I got it from Guitar Center, a national chain that is very careful to establish ownership before taking an instrument on a trade.

SSNs for many years didn’t have any direct relationship to an individuals financial assets. SSNs became a standard identifier for banking in 1970, when Federal legislation required banks to record SSNs for all customers. The requirement was later expanded in 1983 to include all interest-bearing accounts.

When I was in college, starting in 1967 at MIT, they used our SSN as our student ID number. It was right on the student card. I had to write it down every time I checked a book out of the school library.

I never had any illusions that it was private, and by now consider mine thoroughly exposed. Maybe youngsters can hope not to have theirs widely accessible, but not me.

Now my Medicare number is worth trying to keep private. I've already had a big fraud experience in which someone successfully billed Medicare for thousands of dollars of urinary catheters. Did not cost me a dime, but troubles me that the public was bilked, using my information.

I got mine from Amazon. But it does amaze me that an oz. of paint is >$10. That would be >$128. for a gallon. = It must be the brush they include.

SSNs used for ID was so common in the 70s I didn't give it a second thought. Like someone mentioned, it was our official university ID. I remember when professors posted final grades at the end of a semester, it was a sheet of paper on the wall with the last four SSN digits serving to identify each student.

But beyond that, I obtained my private pilot certificate in 1976, and my SSN served as my pilot certificate number. That was in place until the FAA finally changed it 25 or so years ago and started assigning random numbers. The thing about that is, whenever I received flight instruction or an FAA-required written endorsement from a certified flight instructor, that instructor was required to document the instruction details in my logbook, with his certificate number included. He/she also documented the instruction in his/her logbook, with my number included. I still have my student logbook, and it includes the SSNs of over a dozen flight instructors I've received instruction or endorsements from over the years. They also at some point have had mine. Dunno if they still do. I've never heard of any fraud occurring because of this, but it seems a bit concerning.

Job I was hourly. We had a timeclock and a rack for the timecards. They had our SS#'s.

The cleaning people stole all the SS#'s off of the timecards and opened accounts. How, I do not know as our DOBs were not on them. I remember police detectives coming into our office and interviewing people. The reason I took notice was they had Dell laptops, and laptops were a relatively new thing.

I heard a story from someone years ago. They were recounting their dad engraving their SSN on their new bike in case it was stolen...

Up until 2018, Medicare used the person's social security number as teh Medicare number. Now it is a separate number.