Social Security Number: The Evolution of Data Insecurity

In this Democracy Minute, Vanderbilt University Professor Sarah Igo explains the evolution of data insecurity and social security numbers. Since the first social security numbers were issued in 1936, Americans’ relationship to these unique nine digits has charted shifting attitudes towards federal government.

Spurred by the prospect of expansive benefits during the depression, many Americans willingly entrusted private information to a new federal agency, helping create the modern administrative state. In the 1930s, Hollywood stars engraved their digits on gold bracelets, and a surprising number of citizens chose to permanently ink their numbers on their backs or their biceps. Working women and Black Americans prized the SSN as a badge of economic citizenship.

In 1955, in reaction to the Vietnam war, the Watergate scandal and new computer data banks, the government was no longer seen as a trustworthy steward of American’s sensitive information. The social security number, once an emblem of economic security became the foundation for data insecurity.

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Видео Social Security Number: The Evolution of Data Insecurity канала Vanderbilt University