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According to the New York State police,

All an identity thief needs is any combination of your Social Security number, birth date, address, and phone number.

while the UK ActionFraud police (in the Protect yourself tab) advise

Don’t throw out anything with your name, address or financial details without shredding it first.

If you receive an unsolicited email or phone call from what appears to be your bank or building society asking for your security details, never reveal your full password, login details or account numbers.

How true is the first claim? I have read that it is crucial to keep ones social security number secret, but how confidential must I make my date of birth? Presumably I need to expose my address and phone number for daily transactions.

As for the second claim, I often see bank account numbers freely given out. Is that risky?

What other information, such as

  • passport number
  • full name (including middle names)
  • mother's maiden name

should be kept private?

Is it much worse to publicise, for example, a scan of my driving licence than just its number?

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Gnubie
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    Please ignore the mathematical fact that the first claim is patently wrong: *Any* combination includes the null set! – Gnubie Dec 19 '12 at 19:10
  • May be a better fit for superuser or other stack exchange. – Larry OBrien Dec 19 '12 at 20:04
  • You can open a bank account with name, address and date of birth. You can also create a fake photo ID with that information and use that to obtain a bank account number (or at least make a withdrawal) pretty easily. – Ryathal Dec 19 '12 at 20:16
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    This question needs to be limited to a region. Obviously SSN is not an issue in the UK. @Ryathal's comment is [not true in Australia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_point_check). – Oddthinking Dec 19 '12 at 20:52
  • @Ryathal - Not since the Patriot Act. Banks in the U.S. need proof of citizenship or legal residency to open an account for an individual. Having an SSN is the most commonly-used method, as U.S. citizenship is a requisite for that (Passport numbers are usually good too for the same reason). – KeithS Dec 20 '12 at 21:49
  • @KeithS I've done it post patriot act, by just saying I didn't know my SSN. – Ryathal Dec 20 '12 at 21:52
  • There still has to be some sort of proof of citizenship; if they let you open an account without it they can get in some serious hot water with the FDIC and the FBI. A driver's license number combined with state records can get them proof of citizenship; at SOME point, you had to prove your legal status to SOMEONE in order to get a DL, and if that status was "citizen" or "permanent resident" they can open an account. If it's "student/work visa" or other temporary legal status, they need that visa to prove you're still here legally. – KeithS Dec 20 '12 at 22:03
  • I know this because a friend of mine is an immigrant from India, basically here on a technicality ("indefinite family visit"); if she leaves she can't come back, and her bank account is a joint one with her sister (who is a permanent resident). – KeithS Dec 20 '12 at 22:08
  • For example I've seen mothers maiden name used as for security checks at banks. The rationale was that this information is not included on any of your IDs, passports etc. – vartec Dec 21 '12 at 14:16
  • related: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking/all/ – vartec Dec 21 '12 at 14:17
  • @KeithS "as U.S. citizenship is a requisite for that" I really don't think that is a true statement, I knew someone in school who was an international student and she was telling me she was in the process of applying for a SSN. She was not a US citizen. My last bank account I opened (less than a year ago) needed two forms of ID, which I used my state issued Driver's License (not a proof of citizenship) and a credit card in my name. – Sam I Am Dec 22 '12 at 04:57
  • @KeithS: Citizenship is not required for SSN: all legal aliens can get one if they work in the US. http://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/ Also, getting a bank account in the US is not impossible for non-residents. My understanding is that many banks will not do that because of additional costs. Larger banks with foreign interests will do this without difficulty. – François G. Dorais Dec 23 '12 at 04:46
  • @FrançoisG.Dorais indeed, some aliens who are not authorized to work in the US can also get a social security number; the card says "not valid for employment," but it can be used to open a bank account. – phoog Aug 10 '16 at 17:21
  • @phoog This annotation is generally used for people with _limited_ work authorization and must therefore present additional permits. This applies to F1, J1, TN, H1B for example, who are normally allowed to work for only one employer, but are nevertheless admitted for some kind of work (except F1 and some J1 classes). People who enter the US with no intent to work at all should probably get an ITIN instead. – François G. Dorais Aug 10 '16 at 21:10
  • @FrançoisG.Dorais The statuses you cite are people who can work and therefore do pay into the social security system. The annotation is also used for G-4 nonimmigrants, who do not generally pay social security (or any other) tax since their salaries are not taxable. Of course, once you have a SSN it's yours for life, so a former F-1 student, for example, could have a SSN without having legal immigration status, let alone work authorization. – phoog Aug 10 '16 at 21:33
  • @phoog Similarly, most F1 students are exempt from paying social security for their stipend (if any) and yet get SSN. – François G. Dorais Aug 10 '16 at 21:35

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2

This is actually on topic over on Security Stack Exchange

  • in reality, any information you give increases your risk of identity theft, as these groups also use social engineering to persuade your bank or other organisation to provide other information, and collect publicly available information (such as everything you have ever posted on Facebook!)

So while giving out a full set of information is obviously a bad idea, even divulging limited information should be looked at very carefully - ask yourself why they want/need the information they are asking you for.

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Rory Alsop
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    Got it! I did think it's a probabilistic thing: The more information given out, the greater the chances of ones identity being stolen. One could be unlucky and have identity stolen without anything given out, or be lucky and publish everything without incurring harm, but its all in the probabilities. – Gnubie Dec 21 '12 at 12:32