Sergey Dryga wrote: > Wouter van Ooijen voti.nl> writes: > > >>>I know that, even though I'm not sure I understand all the >>>details why this >>>is such a problem in the USA (compared to other countries). >>>In fact I'm >>>pretty sure I /don't/ understand the details... :) >> >>Correct me if I am wrong: the USA (and Canada) have no central >>registration of persons. So if someone decides to migrate from wets to >>east he will register himself and hence create his new (localised) >>identity. Identity in the USA is easily created. >> >>In my country (and I think in most European countries) pereson >>registration is at least somewhat centralised. You can not just appear >>at a registration desk and say 'here I am, I exist'. A new Dutchman can >>only be 'created' at the age of 0. >> >>Wouter van Ooijen >> > > Yes and no. > There is a central registration - Social Security Office. All banks and other > institutions will require social security number as one form of ID. This > number is given at age 0, or, for immigrants after application and background > check. Actually, it is USUALLY given at age 0. It is possible to make it all the way to 18 before you need it, since below the age of 18 it becomes a child-information-protection issue, and even schools shy away from it. You rarely need it until you start applying for college loans, anyway. I didn't get mine until I was 16, for instance, when I needed a driver's license. All it takes is a real-seeming birth certificate... And ironically enough, stealing someone's identity when they are alive is harder than assuming someone's identity when they have died. There was a huge loan scam a while back where people would use a child's SSN who died before the age of 5 or so (before they've USED their SSN) and build wonderful credit using small loans and so on. Then they apply for a house loan, give the money to a "buyer" which happens to be another stolen SSN, and poof! the money (and the people) dissapear. Until rather recently many states do not keep birth or death certificates in an easily reachable form. For birth, you often need to contact the county government where the birth occurred, and for death where they died or where they were burried. Since most Americans don't travel more than 50 miles from where they were born they are often in the same place. --Michael -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist