Children Are At Risk For Identity Theft

Something I've never been able to understand is why you need to provide your child's social security number to a school. After all, they're not being paid to attend!

The school systems have gotten lazy and started using children's SSN as identification numbers. I'm not sure when this started - at least back in the early 1980's when all children were required to get a SSN at birth for their parents to claim them on their taxes. Every report card my kids got had their socials on it as their Student ID number.

I didn't even have a social security number until I was in the 8th grade. That was back in the dark ages of 1967. They filed us all into the auditorium and passed out applications in anticipation that some of us might be wanting to get a summer job soon. And that's all an SSN is supposed to be for: income tax purposes.

Instead, it's now used as a means of identification in way too many places including doctor's offices. You don't know how secure these places keep your child's personal information that can be a bonanza to an identity thief.

On July 10, 2008, Williamson County Schools in Franklin, TN had an incident where social security numbers and other personal information on 4000 students was published on the internet. It wasn't done on purpose - it was an accidental oversight. But it happened - and you have to wonder why someone had access to that info in the first place. It's going to cost the school system hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide identity theft protection to those kids. What a sad way to spend tax payer's dollars but those kids are going to need all the protection they can get.

What can you do to protect your child's identity?

• Always ask why their social security number is needed. I know it's hard to argue with a doctor's office or the school board about why you need to provide one. Always try for an alternative option.
• Ask what they do to secure their information. Cleaning crews have been known to break into files and steal this type of info. Any of the administrative personnel has free access to it. How do they screen their employees? Backup tapes of patient information also have a way of being lost or stolen.
• Get a free credit report for your child every year from http://annualcreditreport.com. It should contain no information until they have a work history. If you see a mortgage in your child's name, it's a sure bet someone has stolen their identity!
• Consider signing up with an identity theft protection company. LifeLock has a very inexpensive plan to cover you and your children. The best part about their plan is that they will do the recovery work for you if your or your child's identity is stolen. You can get a discount and a free 30 day trial with a LifeLock promotion code.

There's nothing you can to do 100% protect your child's identity. Identity thieves are very clever and getting smarter all the time. Plus it's truly unbelievable how sloppy security is. From government agencies, schools, doctor's offices, corporations, insurance companies and even law firms - they all have security breaches.