Some friends and I drew a permit to raft the Lodore section of the Green
River this summer. I just got a call from our trip leader, who told me
the National Park Service is requiring that he submit a form to them
that has the names of all the party members INCLUDING the last four
digits of their social security numbers.

This is the first time anyone has ever asked for part of my SSN for a
river trip. And I definitely am not planning to take my social security
card to the put-in with me. Anyone have any idea what the NPS is
thinking? I assume the reason they're asking for this information is so
the party leader doesn't just make up a bunch of bogus names for the
form, but since when was a SSN required to use a national park?


Todd.

Welcome to America's new experiment with fascism.

On May 25, 3:15 pm, Todd Bradley wrote:
Some friends and I drew a permit to raft the Lodore section of the Green
River this summer. I just got a call from our trip leader, who told me
the National Park Service is requiring that he submit a form to them
that has the names of all the party members INCLUDING the last four
digits of their social security numbers.
[snip]

You should have given them your ATM card password. Mine's 4 numbers,
would make a great "last 4 digits of your SocSec number".

John Kuthe...

John Kuthe wrote:
You should have given them your ATM card password. Mine's 4 numbers,
would make a great "last 4 digits of your SocSec number".

Personally, I feel a bit nervous about putting my ATM PIN on paper and
mailing it to the NPS, too. I'll call them on Tuesday to find out just
what they do with this number, and then decide whether or not to just
send them a random 4-digit number.


Todd.

On May 27, 11:49 am, Todd Bradley wrote:
John Kuthe wrote:
You should have given them your ATM card password. Mine's 4 numbers,
would make a great "last 4 digits of your SocSec number".

Personally, I feel a bit nervous about putting my ATM PIN on paper and
mailing it to the NPS, too. I'll call them on Tuesday to find out just
what they do with this number, and then decide whether or not to just
send them a random 4-digit number.

Don't make it random; make it something you will remember, so you can
quote it to them if they use it to match the people on the trip to the
people on the list.

I hope, if you have a hard time with this concept, that you didn't
vote for the current Administration.

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
Richard Hopley, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll

Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
Don't make it random; make it something you will remember, so you can
quote it to them if they use it to match the people on the trip to the
people on the list.

It turns out that they want the last 4 digits of the SSN for emergency
purposes. So, if there's an accident and start getting calls from
family and the press, they can sort things out more easily. So said the
ranger I talked to. She said that using your birthdate was an
acceptable alternative, and in fact that's what they're switching to on
the form next year.

I hope, if you have a hard time with this concept, that you didn't
vote for the current Administration.

As much as you'd love to blame this on George Bush, it sounds like it
was much less Big Brother-y than it sounded.


Todd.

On May 31, 8:08 pm, Todd Bradley wrote:
Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
Don't make it random; make it something you will remember, so you can
quote it to them if they use it to match the people on the trip to the
people on the list.

It turns out that they want the last 4 digits of the SSN for emergency
purposes. So, if there's an accident and start getting calls from
family and the press, they can sort things out more easily. So said the
ranger I talked to. She said that using your birthdate was an
acceptable alternative, and in fact that's what they're switching to on
the form next year.

I hope, if you have a hard time with this concept, that you didn't
vote for the current Administration.

As much as you'd love to blame this on George Bush, it sounds like it
was much less Big Brother-y than it sounded.

Yeah, that's what they'd always like you to believe. Either that or
"It's for insurance reasons."

;-)

John Kuthe...

On May 31, 9:08 pm, Todd Bradley wrote:
Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
Don't make it random; make it something you will remember, so you can
quote it to them if they use it to match the people on the trip to the
people on the list.

It turns out that they want the last 4 digits of the SSN for emergency
purposes. So, if there's an accident and start getting calls from
family and the press, they can sort things out more easily. So said the
ranger I talked to. She said that using your birthdate was an
acceptable alternative, and in fact that's what they're switching to on
the form next year.

I hope, if you have a hard time with this concept, that you didn't
vote for the current Administration.

As much as you'd love to blame this on George Bush, it sounds like it
was much less Big Brother-y than it sounded.

It is completely irrelevant whether the current Administration is
responsible for THIS PARTIOCULAR intrusion into the privacy of
American citizens. I was referring to the TREND, not to the INSTANCE.

You wanna make it about personalities, evidently; I merely alluded to
one particular TREND in the activities of the Bush administration: the
erosian of American civil liberties[1]. You wanna jerk yer knee and
claim that GWB is the Second Coming, fine (and I am not wandering OT
to criticize any of his other actions); but you cannot dispute that
this Administration has eroded civil liberties and personal privacy --
whether or not there have been any intrusions into YOUR privacy or
MINE notwithstanding.

[1] Perhaps you have not been following the revelations about the
circumvention of our Constitution and Bill of Rights that began in the
Justice Department when Alberto Gonzalez replaced an honorable
Republican as Attorney General?

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
Richard Hopley, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll

Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
[...]
but you cannot dispute that
this Administration has eroded civil liberties and personal privacy --

And I have not. Now we return to our regularly scheduled discussion of
boating.


Todd.