Academic

CRACKING THE SOCIAL SECURITY CODE: The nation?s Social Security numbering system has left milli?

By Glenn Reynolds

CRACKING THE SOCIAL SECURITY CODE:

The nation?s Social Security numbering system has left millions of citizens vulnerable to privacy breaches, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, who for the first time have used statistical techniques to predict Social Security numbers solely from an individual?s date and location of birth. The findings, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are further evidence that privacy safeguards created in the era before powerful computers and ubiquitous networks are increasingly failing, setting up an ?architecture of vulnerability? around personal digital information, the researchers said.

I’m sure they’ll do a fine job of protecting your healthcare information, though.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on July 07, 2009 (boomark / email).