Legal Question in Social Security Law in Nevada

I was just informed by my daughter that her step mother has my Social Security Number. I'm not sure how she obtained that information nor do I know what she is doing with it. What can I do from a legal standpoint do about her accessing/obtaining my personal information without my consent of course?


Asked on 9/19/10, 5:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jonathan Reed Reed & Mansfield

Over the last couple of decades people have gotten very careful about their social security numbers. In the old days social security numbers were routinely provided to doctors, teachers, etc. Older people probably have their social security numbers in zillions of unsecured offices.

You can demand that institutions you do financial business with only release information on you if the requester gives a password or asks a security question--which is the way the institutions are set up anyway. The typical security question is mother's maiden name, which should be available in all sorts of online data bases. I suggest that you pick a security question such as first pet's name and make-up an oddball fictional one. You can change this security question as often as you like. Most people opt for a simple security questions such as mother's maiden name so they won't forget it and use the same password for multiple accounts. If you will take the time to create different passwords, change them often, and different security questions, and change them often, you make yourself a more difficult target. Even so, there is a lot online fraud.

Another thing you can do is if you have financial accounts and credit cards or debit cards go online often to check for withdrawals.

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Answered on 9/25/10, 12:51 pm


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