was applying to college when i saw “enter social security number (optional)”

yes ok, i’d also love to give you my bank account information, address, and birth certificate. anything you need!!!

Might as well lube up, society is going in there one way or another.

@HiFiWiFiSciFi thank you for giving me my first actual “laugh out loud” in a while

If the US had a way for citizen to identify themselves without allowing the other party to impersonate them you wouldn't have to trust everyone to be nice who wants to ensure that you exist.
But alas an ID is too strict and controlled for the land of the free, so you're left with ID But Worse™

Probably a phishing site...

@Oktokolo don’t think so. if so, they really did a good job getting a .edu domain

@calmyourtities
Are you sure, that the ".edu" really did consist of only ASCII letters?

Next up, a bank loan where you need enough ID to actually imporsonate you 😎

But hey, world of the free right!

@Oktokolo is there a .edu tld with fake unicode letters that i’m not aware of?

Wait, do you have social security in USA? I've thought it was a land of strong and independent people who need no socialism.

@iiii the are some benefits, but its mostly used to identify people. and they are afaik used by the irs.

@calmyourtities
I don't know. But TLDs are definitely not a fixed set anymore.
It definitely is safe to assume, that someone who asks for data he doesn't need, will likely abuse that and additionally fail to protect it against "theft" by other people who will also abuse _and_ sell it.

That's pretty standard and it's also an easy way to verify that you're a US citizen and/or at least registered with the system and able to pay tax (or whichever country it applies to).

My university has my SSN, bank info, address, passport info, self-declared health and immunization records, and so on. Some of this info is because it's easier for them, some because it's required by law for the stuff they have to file.

@Oktokolo yes, tlds are still a fixed set.

@RememberMe they can verify i’m a usa citizen after they admit me.

@calmyourtities no, international admissions usually work differently and most places would prefer knowing if you're an international candidate beforehand.

But even so, it's optional, right, just don't fill it in. You'll have to fill it in once you do anything that earns you money (TA, RA, etc.) anyway.

I should point out (again) that foreign nationals also have SSNs if they're working. It's just additional info for the college if you do want to give it to them (recommend not until you work for them).

@RememberMe it is the most sensitive piece of information there is about me. of course i won’t give it, but it’s obnoxious that there’s a text field that asks me for sensitive information without reason.

why would i need to be verified before i even get accepted? they have to verify my ssn for the honor of being considered by admission officers? no, they can verify everything after i’m admitted.

@calmyourtities fair enough.

The weird part is that it's optional. I mean, if they don't need it, why do they even ask?

@electrineer Collecting shinies for future use.

There are a lot of magpies in software development. Developers who write for non-existent future requirements, managers who have a hard-on for big data, database admins who are terrified of deleting data even if it was privacy-sensitive data collected illegally.

Well, the idea that magpies collect unnecessary shiny objects and stash them in their nests is a folklore myth, but you get the idea.