KPBS Midday Edition

Data Breaches Expose Flaws Of Using Social Security Numbers As Identifiers

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Brooke Ruth / Senior Producer of Audio News

Published October 10, 2017 at 7:56 AM PDT

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

Data Breaches Expose Flaws Of Using Social Security Numbers As Identifiers GUEST:Beth Givens, executive director, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

The personal information of 145 million Americans was exposed in the Equifax data breach the company made public last month.

That personal information included addresses, birth dates and social security numbers.

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This breach and similar ones have made apparent the flaws of using social security numbers as identifiers.

Beth Givens is the executive director of the San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. She joins Midday Edition on Tuesday to discuss alternatives to using social security numbers as identifiers.

Those alternatives include biometrics, such as fingerprints, iris scans and palm prints, and blockchain technology, which uses encryption to create a digital signature. Givens said there are flaws with both of those options.

She said that to find a replacement, a lot more research would need to be done and the buy-in of lawmakers and the public would be needed.

In the meantime, Givens recommended companies use two-factor identification to identify individuals. An example of two-factor identification is how you access an ATM, you provide both your card and your pin number.

KPBS Midday Edition

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Brooke Ruth

Brooke Ruth is the senior producer of Audio News. She previously served as a producer for "KPBS Midday Edition" and a web producer. Before joining KPBS, Brooke was a web editor for four newspapers and a local television station. She began her career in news at the Imperial Valley Press. She has also been part of the web teams at the Napa Valley Register, North County Times, and U-T San Diego. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at UCLA in psychology, she worked on the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.

See stories by Brooke Ruth