Pentagon removes SSNs from military ID cards

Social Security numbers used to be the rock solid way of identifying someone in the military and their dependants. But not anymore.

The Defense Department is planning to remove SSNs from military and dependent cards in the United States and overseas by the end of this year. The reason is simple. It's called identity theft.

With the growing theft of personal IDs, especially easy-to-get SSNs, it is a precautionary move for the Pentagon to take. Starting at the end of this year, SSNs will no longer be used, according to the Defense Department's Social Security Number Reduction Plan.

"This is a phased approach, and not all cards will be replaced in 2009," said policy analyst Heidi Boyd. There are more than 11 million Common Access [CAC] and ID cards in circulation. Nevertheless, it will be a slow process because a person's pay, benefits and health care rely on the SSN, and just how fast a replacement can be issued is still a big question mark.

What will the Pentagon do instead? It is currently developing computer software to come up with another identifying system. And there's not too much time to do this efficiently.

"We're trying to do this in a manner that doesn't break anything," Boyd said. Other government entities have abandoned the SSN as the identifier for individuals. States that once used the SSN for a driver's license number are no using them to track an individual.

And in some business areas, such as credit cards, SSNs no longer are used as the key ID. The problem for the Pentagon right now is that its ID systems were built using the SSNs, and there is no easy way around this, just yet. The IRS is about the only place where an SSN will ultimately still be in use when identity paranoia is laid to rest.

For more on DoD ID numbers:
- check out this Stars and Stripes article