Reporter Finds Social Security Numbers of Well-Known Figures
The Washington Post was able to find the Social Security numbers of former secretary of state Colin Powell, Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.
The Post reporter looked at websites with information on land and court records to locate the numbers of those three people as well as others.
“Our laws need to be tightened up,” Gansler told the Post. “There’s no legitimate reason why somebody should be able to surf the Internet and gain another person’s Social Security number.”
Federal courts banned Social Security numbers on public documents since 2001, and many states have done the same. But the numbers are still available in documents filed before the bans took effect. They also often appear on criminal arrest warrants and other criminal court documents in Virginia, but not in Maryland and Washington, D.C.
The Post found Social Security numbers in 38 out of 48 criminal cases heard by one judge in Loudoun County, Va.
In a different case, the newspaper obtained the Social Security number of a Virginia woman who failed to register a dog determined to be dangerous—a Shih Tzu named Puzzle. Also listed in the dog owner’s file were her home address, driver’s license number, hair and eye color, and weight. The Shih Tzu is gray.
