THE VIDEO SHELF · social security numbers as identity
America Keeps Rejecting an ID Card It Already Has
CGP Grey explains the history of the US Social Security card and number, and why they became a de facto national ID despite never being meant for it. He also covers why America resists a proper identity card.
Why HN readers recommended it
HN reaches for it in every identity theft and data breach thread as the clearest, most enjoyable short explainer of why SSNs make bad identifiers.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- CGP Grey
- Topic
- social security numbers as identity
- Format
- explainer
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 14
- HN mentions in dataset
- 20
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2017–2024
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
For anyone who wants an explanation at just how bad the social security number really is, this is the most enjoyable explanation for it I've seen, by CGP Grey [VIDEO]
bmelton on Hacker News · 2017-09
In The Equifax breach may be the worst leak of personal info everFor everybody who isn't acquainted with how Social Security Cards work in the US and how they came to be I highly recommend watching "Social Security Cards Explained" by CGP Grey [VIDEO] He also explains why US citizens don't have an Identity Card as opposed …
sagitariusrex on Hacker News · 2017-09
In The Equifax Breach Exposes America's Identity CrisisDon't blame the immigrants, blame those who are fully or partly paying under the table. Of course, would you support a national ID card as a means of combating this variable you accuse? In the US we pretty much have such a thing already, just …
mjevans on Hacker News · 2017-04
In Men Without Work
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.