Don’t do it: Rejecting Dangerous Demands

The following column appeared in a number of APG of East Central Mn Newspapers including Aitkin Independent Age,   County News Review,  Dakota County Times, Sun This Week, LakerPioneer,  Faribault Daily News, MilleLacs Messenger, Monticello Times,  Morrison County Record,  Waconia Patriot, and Union Times.

Don’t do it! Rejecting dangerous demands

Recently, an organization asked me to volunteer and made a dangerous demand. Before I could speak to a group of students they were gathering, they asked me to submit my Social Security Number (SSN) online as part of a criminal background check. They also wanted to run a credit check on me.   While I was fine with a background check, I questioned whether these two items were necessary. The group’s director said their attorney had recommended this for anyone who volunteered. A data security expert friend gave me great advice, which I’m sharing here.

These two requests seemed risky. The director immediately backed off. A credit check wasn’t necessary.  Then I questioned sharing my SSN online. I’d read that internet hackers had stolen many people’s SSNs. The Social Security Administration confirmed this:

“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. Scammers use your Social Security number to get other personal information about you. They can use your SSN and your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. Then, when they use the credit cards and don’t pay the bills, it damages your credit. You may not find out that someone is using your SSN until you’re turned down for credit, or you begin to get calls from unknown creditors demanding payment for items you never bought.”

The director of the organization who asked me to speak insisted that I share my SSN online.

So I called Don Gemberling. As a staff member and then director of the Information Policy Analysis Division, Minnesota Department of Administration, he worked on data-privacy issues for more than 30 years. Gemberling helped write Minnesota’s data privacy laws. He’s written articles about data privacy for mainstream publications and law reviews.

Don’s response to me posting my SSN online was short and direct — “Don’t do it! They can’t guarantee that your information will be protected.”  More of Don’s excellent advice about data privacy is found here, courtesy of a Minnesota group called Civic Caucus.

Both Forbes Magazine and The New York Times have published articles about theft of millions of SSNs and other records, allegedly from a company that does background checks. See here for example.   Though this was not the company I was being asked to work with, Gemberling’s message was clear.

So I contacted the background research company to which I had been directed. A representative of the company told me I did not have to provide my SSN online. She suggested, “Simply type in zeroes.” I did. This might work for others. I received an email saying they were proceeding with the background check.

People are constantly demanding private information about us — for loans, jobs, and college applications, etc. Here’s a powerful paragraph from the U.S. Department of Justice that affirms Gemberling’s advice. Please consider what he told me and what the DOJ recommends:

“Think before you post anything online or share information in emails. What you post online, can be seen by anyone. Sharing personal information with others you do not know personally is one of your biggest risks online. Sharing sensitive information such as your address, phone number, family members’ names, car information, passwords, work history, credit status, social security numbers, birth date, school names, passport information, driver’s license numbers, insurance policy numbers, loan numbers, credit/ debit card numbers, PIN numbers, and bank account information is risky and should be avoided.”

Joe Nathan, PhD, has been a Minnesota public school educator, PTA president, and researcher. More than 30 state legislatures and several Congressional Committees have invited him to testify. Reactions welcome, joe@centerforschoolchange.org.