As your Representative in Congress, Lisa will work to:

Support privacy protections and limits on the uses of social security numbers.

The original Social Security Act did not specifically provide for the Social Security Number (SSN), but instead left it to the Treasury Department to decide how best to keep track of the contributions made by workers under that Act. The Treasury Department by regulation created the SSN in 1936 to identify individuals for purposes of the Social Security System. Within a short period of time however, other federal agencies were authorized to use the SSN as a personal identifier for their programs as well.

The Privacy Act of 1974 limits to some extent the uses and disclosures of the SSN by federal agencies. However, it does not restrict the use of the number by private entities. Thus, in the private companies can use the SSN to compile and disseminate information on individuals, and require individuals to disclose their SSN's as a condition of doing business. The growing use of Social Security numbers in both the public and private sectors has rightfully alarmed people and caused them to wonder just what is Congress's commitment to protecting our personal and financial information.

In my opinion, while the Constitution does not expressly provide for a right to privacy, the Bill of Rights and Supreme Court decisions do give a constitutional basis to a reasonable expectation of such. Congress can and should legislate within the framework of this reasonable expectation to limit the government collection of information by Social Security number, and to promote increased disclosure by private companies if personal or financial information is to be shared or sold to others.

Download the entire Why Vote for Lisa Atkins document.

<<< Back