Originally Posted by Mr_Dick

GN 03325.025 Request for SSN Printout and/or Numident Printouts

A. Policy

Under the Privacy Act, an individual has the right to access any SSN information pertaining to him/her in SSA records, including a copy of Form SS-5 (Application for a Social Security Number) and the Numident printout. A Numident is a query displaying information taken from an individual's application for an original SSN card and subsequent applications for replacement cards. See GN 03340.010 and GN 03340.015 for the requirements that must be met by an individual seeking access to his/her personal information in SSA's possession.
At times, various third parties request Numident printouts and/or SSN printout from SSA, both with and without the consent of the number holder (NH). The only official SSA document verifying an individual's SSN is the SSN card. Various third parties are familiar with SSA jargon and terminology and will ask individuals to obtain a Numident for verification of their SSN for third parties’ purposes. However, they may also be seeking the valuable private information contained on the Numident. While the NH is entitled to his or her Numident, he or she is unwittingly disclosing more information than is necessary to verify his or her SSN. Once Numident information is placed in a third party's file, it becomes available to anyone with access to that file which greatly increases the NH's vulnerability to identity theft and SSN fraud. Additionally, the Numident can be easily duplicated or altered....