Your Social Security number

Your link with Social Security is your Social Security number. You will need it to get a job and to pay taxes. Your Social Security number is used to track your earnings while you are working and to track your benefits after you are working and to track your benefits after you are getting Social Security.

Do not carry your Social Security card unless you need to show it to your employer. You should be careful about giving someone your Social Security number. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes today. Most of the time identity thieves use your Social Security number and your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. Then they use the credit cards to buy things for themselves, and they do not pay the bills.

Your Social Security number and the records of the Social Security Administration (SSA) are confidential. If someone else asks the SSA for information it has about you, the SSA will not give any information without your written consent, unless the law requires or permits it.

You should contact the SSA if you need a Social Security number, if you lose your card and need another one or if you need to change your name on your current card. The SSA will require that you complete  a simple one-page form and ask to see certain documents.  Examples of documents the SSA may ask you for are:

• A birth certificate and some form of identification for a new card;
• Some form of identification for a replacement card; or
• A marriage certificate or divorce papers for a name change.