Government

[alex_antonin]

Why can't anything just be simple with government? The PIN number for my student loan online payment thing should be my social security number, or some variant of it

Comments

[consortofvenus]

I think the problem is that many people are paranoid about giving the government so much access to them. It's like that whole federal ID thing. People don't want to centralize the process; they want as many barriers and walls as possible.

[alex_antonin]

It's rediculous. The government already has the ability to get any information about you that they could possibly want or need. Any "walls" and "barriers" are just illusions.

[wizwom]

Because if it was your SSN, anyone who had access to that - and it's easy to find out - would be able to use the card.

Random is better. Chosen is in between the two, because people choose things they will remember - birthdays, SSN, DL# - instead of unique numbers.

[alex_antonin]

Ah. Makes sense.

Still, one would think they'd make the process easier. Like have the government do all the legwork of calling those places. Along the lines of a background check.

[wizwom]

Congress would have to pass laws allowing each authority and access to the appropriate records of the other. And then funding the software development effort to implement it.

So, until they do, you've got to bring your cross-agency records and sign forms saying they can get the records from other agencies.