The Credit Queen
The Legality Of CPN's
Presently, federal law allows the ability for someone to legally use a private ID # for financial reporting purposes instead of a Social Security Number.Title 5, Section 7 of Publication Law 93-579 of Government Organization and Employees Act:(a) (1) It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or Local Government Agency to deny any individual any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual's refusal to disclose his or hers Social Security Account Number.What this means is Federal Law protects those who do not wish to disclose their personal information (SS#) except where required to do so. Disclosure of your social security number is only required when dealing with the IRS, your employer, or when applying for a federally insured mortgage. Instead of a Social Security Number, you now have the opportunity to establish a Credit Privacy Number (CPN).A Credit Privacy Number is a new 9 digit number established for financial reporting purposes. This number is NOT a new social. It is simply an available file number at the credit bureaus that can have financial information reported. You have the right to establish this number only once, so do not abuse it.
The bureaus or the IRS can take part in this process to establish your CPN. YOU ARE LIABLE FOR PAYING BACK ANYTHING THAT IS BORROWED with this new CPN.
CPN's are used by celebrities, congress members/government workers, and witness protection reasons. For example, celebrities use it because the media can use their SS# to track what they are buying and where they are simply by tracking their credit cards.
Further, in example, congress holds special privileges to the law; therefore, their privacy needs to be protected. In another example, witnesses under protection can be located if they use their true social security number for transaction. This is the reason why there is the existence of a Credit Privacy Number program. Reasons are not limited to the previous, so why shouldn't you have a CPN?
Members of Congress plan to reintroduce a bill to restrict the availability and use of Social Security numbers, hoping the effort will reduce identity theft. A Social Security Subcommittee Chairman by the name of E. Clay Shaw, announced at a July 11 hearing that he and subcommittee ranking member Robert Matsui, plan to unveil legislation to restrict the sale and public display of Social Security numbers, establish penalties for violations, limit dissemination of numbers by credit reporting agencies, make it more difficult for businesses to deny services if a customer refuses to provide their social security number.
The goal is to improve the integrity of the Social Security number assignment process. "Congress must act this session to protect the very number it requires each of us to obtain and use throughout our lifetime," said Shaw.