Why Does AT&T Need My Social Security Number to Connect My iPhone? (HuffPost)

[marmar]

from HuffPost:




Michael Huffington
Why Does AT&T Need My Social Security Number to Connect My iPhone?
Posted September 15, 2007 | 12:00 AM (EST)



Birthday parties are a wonderful thing.....especially if they are celebrating the beginning of a new decade. Not only do you get to see all the members of your family, but many of your closest friends show up. And a few even bring presents.

At my most recent birhday party my ex gave me a fantastic gift....the new Apple iPhone. What a beauty!! I couldn't believe how far I had come in the last five years. In 2002 I bought my first cell phone ever...a Motorola starTAC. I kept that phone until a couple of months ago when I was finally embarrassed into buying a new model. I rarely saw anyone on the street who had a clamshell mobile phone with an antenna that one had to raise and lower manually. One person once complemented me on it, and he said it was "so retro". However, my kids and my friends begged me to get something else. Finally I did. I bought the Motorola Q (or Moto Q for short) and thought I was one cool dude.

I was very happy with my new cell phone. It was much sleeker than the old bulky starTAC. Then along comes Apple's new iPhone and everyone is talking about it. You would have to be living underwater not to know about it. And bingo I get one for a birthday present. Now I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I am still one to look at expenses. Since I already have a new cell phone that works fine I'm not convinced that I should pay monthly fees for another one. But the problem is that my cell phone service is limited to domestic calls. And since I am leaving shortly for Europe I finally decided to hook up the iPhone as it also works internationally.

This is where the fun begins. I read the brochure that came with the cell phone and am told the only way I can get service is hook it up to iTunes. Fine and dandy, but how do you do that. Fortunately I was at a dinner the other night with several thirty something techies and I noticed that they all had iPhones. But so did a friend who was studying at Harvard Business School. I asked him if he could help me, and he came over to my place and plugged in the iPhone to my PC meanwhile chastising me for not having an Apple computer. He downloaded iTunes and then I proceeded to fill out a few forms in order to get AT&T service. As everyone is also aware you can only use AT&T with your new iPhone. I presently use another phone company for my Moto Q, and am quite happy with their service. In fact I even bought their stock I liked the company so much. But I don't have any choice because AT&T has a monopoly if you want iPhone service. We will come back to that in a moment.

I check the first box for 450 minutes (I don't need more because I will soon have two cell phone plans) for $59.99 and I click "continue". Next I enter my email address, and my new password. I now have a couple of dozen passwords for different groups and it is getting impossible to remember them all. Some people say use the same password but that doesn't make sense because if someone figures it out they have access to all your accounts. Then I fill in my birthdate as if that is vital information for opening an account. However they say they need it because "you must be at least 18 years old" to open an account. Why don't they just have a box that says "over 18?" It would save a few extra seconds of typing. Plus does everyone need to know our age? .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-huffington/why-does-att-need-my-soc_b_64526.html

[4dsc]

1. Dont give to them!!!

I've had plenty of arguements with various companies over the use of my SS#.. I simply refuse to give to anyone but the banks or employers.. Fuck everyone else trying to gain access!!

[minnesota_liberal]

8. Agreed. I even refused to give my SSN to the travel division of my own employer.

Financial institutions, governmental entities that collect taxes and employers are the only concerns with a right to your SSN.

Everyone else - including phone companies - can go to hell!

[pretzel4gore]

2. police states need lists...

list provide grist for police....they watch and see if 'repent, confess, obey' are the guiding rule of the lawful, and if not, which is the case usually, the lawless can be quickly separated from the obedient bushbots. It aint much, but it's a start.....lists then can be refined, until those who need killing can be rounded up :)
good mourning to you too! hahaha

[bananas]

3. Ok, iphone users - did you give your ss#?

What kind of sheep are you?

[msongs]

6. apple branded sheeple :-) nt

[Gman]

4. Southwestern Bell/SBC/AT&T has been using SSN's to connect service

for the last 20 years for land line service. Nothing new.

[Not Me]

5. I am sure they run a credit report before starting service

Sprint does, and that requires SSN.

[tammywammy]

7. Credit Check

[minnesota_liberal]

9. That's their excuse. n/t

[tammywammy]

10. If you haven't been paying your bills on time previously

They'll ask for a deposit. My friend has no credit and she had to put a deposit down when she got a cell phone. :shrug:

I've never used the electricity company I'm with now before, and I had to put a $200 deposit down. :shrug:

If you don't like it, then don't give it.

[MadHound]

11. Geez, what a display of shallow, consumer sheeplike mentality

"Ooo, I'm the only kid on the block with a clamshell phone." "I have to raise and lower the antenna manually" Whine, whimper, so the author throws away a five year old phone, and proceeds to get two more that are the "latest thing":eyes: Thanks for contributing more trash to the environment.

I do agree that asking for one's SS# to open an account is over the top, but I have a hard time dredging up sympathy for somebody who states ". . .I wanted to join all my cool friends who had this hip iPhone"

The only way corporations will pay attention to peoples' justifiable complaints is if they are deprived of the buck. Hey, get the bill from your friend and take the stupid phone back in and get cold cash instead. And better yet, take some of that cash and give it to a good cause. Stop being a consumerist sheep, grasping after every latest, greatest thing. You won't die, your social life won't suffer, and hey, you can be part of the solution instead part of the problem.

[Mutineer]

12. Same reason that TimeWarner demands my SS#

to access my cable records. I don't get it either.