Beginning June 1, 2011, Social Security numbers on military identification cards will be phased out. The effort is part of a larger plan to protect service members and other Department of Defense (DOD) identification card holders from identity theft.
Criminals use Social Security numbers to steal identities, allowing them to pillage resources, establish credit or to hijack credit cars, bank accounts or debit cards. Currently, the Social Security number is printed on the back of common access cards, and on the front of cards issued to dependants and retirees. Beginning in June 2011, when current cards expire, they will be replaced with new cards having a DOD identification number replacing the Social Security number. The DOD identification number is a unique 10-digit number that is assigned to every person with a direct relationship with the department. The new number also will be the service member's Geneva Convention identification number.
An 11-digit DOD benefits number also will appear on the cards of those people eligible for DOD benefits. The first nine digits are common to a sponsor. The last two digits will identify a specific person within the sponsor's family.
Social Security numbers embedded in the bar codes on the back of identification cards will remain there for the time being, and will be phased out beginning in 2012. The identification cards will be replaced as they expire. It will be approximately four years until all military identification cards are replaced with the DOD ID number.
The identity protection program began in 2008, when DOD started removing Social Security numbers from family member identification cards.
Gregory Chandler, Attorney at Law
No comments:
Post a Comment