Doing a number on privacy

With so much attention to protecting oneself against identity theft, job hunters ask if it’s legal for employers to require Social Security numbers on job applications.

The quick answer: Yes, it’s legal.

But there’s a special consideration in Missouri, one of a handful of states with limited restrictions on requesting Social Security numbers.

A Missouri statute that went into effect in January prohibits persons or entities from requiring individuals to transmit their Social Security numbers over the Internet, “unless the connection is secure or the Social Security number is encrypted.”

(That same Missouri law also restricts requirements that individuals use their Social Security numbers to access Internet sites, unless a password, personal identification number or “other authentication device” is required.)

Employers may avoid running afoul of the state statute by asking job hunters to send their applications — with Social Security numbers — by fax or postal service.

Some privacy-conscious job hunters bristle at being asked to provide their Social Security numbers before a job offer is made. They understand why employers need employees’ numbers for tax reasons, but they don’t want to share their numbers before they’ve landed the job.

Indeed, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an organization that advocates for privacy interests, advises job applicants to disclose their Social Security numbers only after they have been given job offers.

Pre-employment requests are unlikely to disappear, though. Social Security numbers are the surest, most effective means to conduct pre-hiring background checks.

Employers, or background-checking companies hired by employers, routinely check for applicants’ criminal histories and call the credit reporting services (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) for credit checks. To make sure the right “John Smith” applicant is being investigated, the applicant’s unique Social Security number is the differentiation tool.

That pre-employment credit check presents another question for some job hunters. Some employers are known to shy away from applicants with poor credit ratings on the grounds that their money troubles indicate lack of responsibility or mismanagement — qualities employers wouldn’t want in employees.

Of course, some of those job hunters counter that they wouldn’t have financial woes if they had a job, so it’s a vicious cycle.

Source: KansasCity.com; http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/11979852.htm

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