All U.S. Social Security numbers may need to be changed following a massive breach that is already being investigated as a national threat
2026-02-16 17:07 UTC
Replies (40)
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@hperrin@lemmy.ca 2026-02-16 18:13
What a perfect time to stop using social security numbers for specifically the thing they were **not designed to be**.
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@phutatorius@lemmy.zip 2026-02-16 17:14
>All U.S. Social Security numbers may need to be changed Yeah, sure, and winged monkeys may fly out of my ass. But I doubt it'll happen.
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@Archer@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 22:45
They actually need to publicly release everyone’s SSNs so that they can’t be used for authentication anymore, which they never should have been
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@XLE@piefed.social 2026-02-16 18:08
> Borges alleges that a little-known federal tech team called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, copied the government’s master Social Security database into a cloud system that lacked normal oversight. I don't know if I'd call them a little-known team (they're infamous for basically fraud), but point taken.
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@guywithoutaname@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 17:47
Regardless of whether or not they are breached, the social security numbering system needs to be changed because it is far from a secure number.
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@chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 18:29
Let me guess... just in time for a 2028 election where we all suddenly need our valid SSN?
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@brown567@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-17 04:17
> more than 300 million Americans Last I checked, that's all of 'em
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@AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-17 23:00
Thanks a lot DOGE. So clearly Elon Musk gives every American compensation, we get new numbers and have all of our credit history wiped clean to start new right? Bc otherwise this just means we've all been massively fucked by Trump and his band of idiots
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@Tiger666@lemmy.ca 2026-02-17 12:39
DOGE infiltrated months ago and you are just reacting now?
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@GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 21:22
I fucking **CALLED IT**. I've been getting so many loan applications since they opened pandoras box last year. never had this problem. I even just got an alert my SSN has been found on the darknet. take my advice, freeze your credit report at all three major credit firms NOW. don't wait, takes an hour for all three all online. doesn't matter of you're 9 or 90, do it do it do it.
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@dhork@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 18:28
I'm less upset that all SSNs might end up compromised and more upset that no one is going to get punished for it. If a career Federal Employee did this, they would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But since it was Elon's friends who did it, everyone in power will just shrug and say "who knew this would be such a big deal"....
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@rumba@lemmy.zip 2026-02-17 14:12
0 chance they hand out new SSID, that's money and work and confusion, imagine every medical entity changing over that code? First, the govt would need to make a lookup table. Anyone that used their old ssid for something, or a system that had the old ssid in it, would need a translation to the new ID. Sooo at what point could you safely stop accepting old ID's because they're all changed over? Never. Some random medical provider in east bumfuck, TN, still uses your SSID from their own paper copy. So you're stuck accepting old SSIDs and translating them into new SSIDs on demand, which completely breaks any security of changing IDs in the first place. There have been enough nexus/credit leaks over the years, it's hardly news that those ID's are compromised.
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@turmacar@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 17:06
>more than 300 million Americans I know wiggle room is the gold standard of journalism... but you can just say "all Americans".
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@Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 04:16
File a lawsuit against fucking DOGE and MAGA.
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@WraithGear@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 12:59
ssn was never intended to be a form of identification. it was specifically decided that it would not be used as a form of identification by the administration that controlled it
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@Formfiller@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 12:45
SIEZE Elons assets arrest try him and repair the damage to American infrastructure with his money
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@nosuchanon@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 08:08
Are we efficient yet?
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@dan69@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 21:22
lol I can confirm this, just gave my ssn to a reputable company’s hr system. And it says that info is already exists..
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@maplesaga@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 21:29
I have long predicted the entire goal of DOGE was to feed more data to Palantir, and clearly no other company is ever going to be given this level of security clearance, so they become dependent on it forever. I think this view is gaining more traction from what I've seen.
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@muelltonne@feddit.org 2026-02-17 13:33
I'm sure that this will be more expensive to fix than whatever "savings" Elons ghouls have managed to bring.
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@moopet@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-17 16:45
Just add a 1 at the end of them all. That's what I do when my work says I have to change my password.
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@Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 17:44
They “leak” the numbers, then only issue new ones to the people they like…
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@RoyaltyInTraining@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 12:11
I will keep laughing at Americans till they manage to get their broken democracy to establish an ID system like every other country.
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@jj4211@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 23:33
Instead of new SSNs, how about we maybe the number less risky in general? It should never have served as a "secret". Authenticating someone needs more than some account number. SSN should be more of a "username", not a password.
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@melsaskca@lemmy.ca 2026-02-18 13:48
Thanks DOGE! Jesus, trump, how could you be so fucking stupid and uncaring? You have done nothing more than shove the monopoly board of america off of the table in a big tantrum because you were losing. Don't forget, America made you, America can bring you down.
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@davidagain@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 17:47
I was going to guess that it was one of Trump's idiot corrupt collaborators or AI, and here it is, Elon Musk's idiot collaborators.
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@MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 2026-02-18 10:31
This is how Americans are going to lose their right to vote. The process will be "slow" for specific states and regions, just long enough to miss the midterms.
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@moseschrute@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 17:36
They needed to be changed 5 data breaches ago. Thank you Equifax :)
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@Akh@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 18:22
Seems like an attempt to interfere with the elections by the administration
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@qx128@lemmy.world 2026-02-18 15:51
Say it with me! A 👏 social 👏 security 👏 number 👏 is 👏 NOT 👏 a 👏 valid 👏 identity 👏 verification 👏 method. The idea that all SSNs should be changed is dumb. The fix is to get dumb people to stop using it as an identity verification method.
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@HuntressHimbo@lemmy.zip 2026-02-16 18:04
Makes me want to scream. Social security as is sucks. Current regime would use its reconstruction to wreak unimaginable cruelty on everyone they can, but the current system needs to go. We need to build systems outside state control to fill every need that can be denied to people based on access to the social security system. 🙃😡💀
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@Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-16 18:50
Soooo here is a general question about cybersecurity. Is it really important if there are no consequences to breeches? Same way big business see fines as a cost of doing business, I think we are getting to a time that breaches might become part of business as usual. I actually think that’s a good thing as a person who promotes self hosting. If the assumption becomes that your data is never safe in corporate hands, people might move away from having their entire lives on the cloud.
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@lechekaflan@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 23:19
American government is again a laughingstock. Another comedy episode for the plutocrats in Moscow.
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@goatinspace@feddit.org 2026-02-16 17:35
So they want to rewrite cobol in java testing with a clone of live db in a big tech cloud?🦧
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@tomiant@piefed.social 2026-02-16 17:56
Aw shit, sorry, the department tasked with protecting citizens against cyber threats are all assigned to immigration enforcement duty. Have fun, byeee!
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@Nomad64@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 21:55
Link to the interview where this article seems to be deriving its information from: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whistleblower-responds-after-doj-confirms-doge-mishandled-social-security-data
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@PissingIntoTheWind@lemmy.world 2026-02-17 22:46
Thanks Doge. Daily reminder. Fuck Elon.
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@sturmblast@lemmy.world 2026-02-18 00:42
I need to move
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@SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 2026-02-18 15:48
Another victory for Small Government and the Private Sector, puh-raise JEE-zuz-ah!
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@captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2026-02-16 18:11
Fortunately the generation that got them tattooed isn't around for this