The Social Insurance Number (S.I.N) card originated in 1964 to identify clients in the Canada Pension Plan and other various employment programs. It began serving the Canada Revenue Agency in 1967 for tax reporting purposes. The S.I.N card is required for individuals to be legally allowed to work in Canada and due to the privacy of this number, very few organizations have authorize to collect it. Keeping this number safe and confidential can aid in preventing identity theft.
Who Can Ask For a Social Insurance Number and What Can They Do With It
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) was brought out in January 2001 to protect collection, use and disclosure of personal information. The act limits who can ask for specific types of information and outlines what safety measures must be in place to ensure the information remains protected while in their care.
Who is authorized to ask for your S.I.N card:
- Certain Branches of Government: used for reporting purposes
- Your Employer: to provide Records of Employment and T-4 slips
- Provincial or Municipal Agencies: to report financial assistance
Who is not authorized to ask for your S.I.N card:
- Public businesses: The S.I.N card is not a form of identification, offer photo I.D instead.
- Online stores: S.I.N card is not used to verify identification.
- Telephone salespeople/marketers: You should never give out any personal information over the phone unless you know the caller.
How Someone Can Use a S.I.N Card to Steal Your Identity and What They Can Do With It
Thieves aim at collecting various types of personal information such as S.I.N cards, bank cards, date of birth, drivers licenses and more. They may see this information while standing behind the victim at the supermarket or even resort to going through mail or trash. Thieves may also have worked at stores or businesses that collected personal information and failed to keep it secure.
How someone can get your personal information:
- buying information from dishonest employees
- posing as creditors, landlords or other people in position of authority
- physically stealing bills and documents from wallets, garbage, recycling, mailboxes
- accessing computers via unsecured networks and non password protected devices
- tampering with Interac machines
- searching public sources (phone books, newspapers, online communities)
Some signs of identity theft are:
- Mail: Bills and statements don't arrive, indicating they may have been stolen.
- Collection agencies: Receiving calls about past due accounts the victim never opened could indicate someone else opened an account under the victim's name.
- Bank statements: Showing transactions the account holder did not make.
- Credit applications: Victims of identity theft may be denied further credit despite having a good financial standing.
Protecting Against Identity Theft: Protect Your Social Insurance Number and Other Information
The Social Insurance Number is a very unique piece of information and extremely important. It is advised to keep this number in a safe or safety deposit box, not in your wallet or lying around the house. Proof of Social Insurance Number is used to create important documents like passports and can be used to create false passports if it is stolen. Since thieves of identity theft will often collect and use other personal information for illegal purposes, it's important to safeguard that information as much as possible. Thieves can use other information they collect to make purchases, withdraw funds, create falsified documents and open up accounts in the victim's name.
A recent attempt at identity theft involved a phone call in where the thief asked open ended questions to gain the trust of the intended victim. The intended victim became cautious when the caller asked for credit card and bank information to cover the shipping charge of the item. When asked for his name, reference number and department of the agency he supposedly represented, he declined and the intended victim phone police instead.
Some suggestions to protect from identity theft:
- Personal information: Do not give out birth date, credit card information, social insurance number or any other financial information over the phone, mail or internet unless the source is trusted and reputable.
- Computers: Keep computer and contents safe and password protected. Operate on secure connections and if using a wireless connection, ensure it's password protected.
- Ask questions: If asked to provide personal information, don't be afraid to ask the caller questions to verify their identity. Get a phone number to call back at a later time once identity is verified.
- Passwords: Banking passwords, credit cards and online accounts all use passwords to verify identity. Change the passwords often and be sure not to choose obvious passwords like children's names or birth dates.
The Social Insurance Number is a very important document for Canadians and it's important to keep that number safe. Understanding who has the right to collect it and how they intend to keep it safe is a recommended step in avoiding identity theft.
Resources:
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. “Social Insurance Number.” (accessed September 16, 2010).
New Brunswick Canada. “Tips for Reducing the Risk of Identity Theft.” (accessed September 16, 2010).
Canoe.ca. “Police issue warning after attempted identity theft in West Perth.” (accessed September 16, 2010).
Tamara Laschinsky - Health and wellness advocate, author, researcher and owner of Natural e GREEN: Natural Health & Wellness store!
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