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In Congressional Testimony, EPIC Calls For Privacy Safeguards for Social Security Number

EPIC Consumer Privacy Counsel Sam Lester testified before the House Ways and Means Committee at a hearing on "Securing Americans' Identities: The Future of the Social Security Number." EPIC's Lester emphasized that "the SSN was never meant to be an all-purpose identifier," and its widespread use has contributed to the epidemic of data breaches, identity theft and financial fraud. Lester called on Congress to prohibit the use of the SSN in the private sector without explicit legal authorization. Lester also warned Congress against creating a national biometric identifier that would raise serious privacy and civil liberties risks. EPIC frequently testifies before Congress. EPIC President Marc Rotenberg recently testified before the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee on the need to update U.S. privacy law. EPIC also maintains an archive of information about the SSN online.


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