From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 12:39:40 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Fingerprinting annoyance
Message-ID: <adbe18d00702100450ef@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 3:22 PM 5/14/96, Matthew Williams wrote:
>> Date sent:      Mon, 13 May 1996 23:19:12 -0400 (EDT)
>> From:           Black Unicorn <unicorn@schloss.li>
>
><...>
>
>>
>> I compare it to the ease with which one submits a fake social security
>> number rather than simply refuse to submit one at all.  A fake one wont
>> raise any eyebrows, refusal will.
>
>Although knowingly providing a fake social security number when one
>has any expectation of gain is, I believe, a felony.
>
>42 USC. sec. 408.

Indeed.

Plus, should one "just make a number up," odds are good that it "won't
compute," that is, that it will either collide with an existing number (and
identity, and reported income) or that it will fail the checksum/allocation
tests.

(That is, not all xxx-yy-zzzz numbers are valid SS numbers. See Chris
Hibbert's "Structure of Social Security Numbers" FAQ, at
http://snyside.sunnyside.com/cpsr/privacy/ssn/oldSSN/ssn.structure.html
for details.)

The IRS imposes penalties for faking SS numbers. (Not to mention the
punishment meted out by the Sturmgruppenfuhrers of the SS!)

A simple transposition of two digits may not get you zapped, but a
large-scale transposition or outright falsification will. If and when they
catch up with you.

I'm all for avoiding taxes, but this is not a cost-effective way to do it.

--Tim

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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