Re: Bare Social Social Security Numbers

["H. Morrow Long" <morrow.long () YALE EDU>]

On Mar 27, 2006, at 11:59 AM, Christopher E. Cramer wrote:
> .....           Worse than that, since the
> 1st three digits roughly indicate age and place where the person is  
> born,
> you could probably narrow it down quite a bit.

They indicate the state and may clue you as to whether the person was  
born
before 1972-1973 and as you state they are not very random - for a  
list of the
state/area codes go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/ 
stateweb.htm,
for a list of the area codes with the highest two digit codes (group  
codes)
currently ever assigned in that area code go to
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/highgroup.txt

From the www.ssa.gov website:
.....................................................................
The following is general information about Social Security numbers  
and a list which indicates the State and its corresponding area  
number used by Social Security when assigning Social Security numbers.

The nine-digit Social Security number is divided into three parts—

· The first three digits are the area number. If your Social Security  
number was assigned before 1972 when Social Security cards were  
issued by local offices, the area number reflects the State where you  
applied for your number. If your number was assigned in 1972 or later  
when we began issuing Social Security cards centrally, the area  
number reflects the State as determined by the ZIP code in the  
mailing address on your application for the number.
· The middle two digits are the group number. It has no special  
geographic or data significance but merely serve to break the number  
into conveniently sized blocks for orderly issuance.
· The last four digits are serial number. It represents a straight  
numerical sequence of digits from 0001-9999 within the group.

To see the most recent information about the allocation of Social  
Security numbers go to SSA’s web site.
.....................................................................

- H. Morrow Long, CISSP, CISM, CEH
  University Information Security Officer
  Director -- Information Security Office
  Yale University, ITS