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Social Security
Number Bill Passes House
Coghill's HB 110 Protects Privacy
Counters National ID Number

(JUNEAU) - The cause of personal privacy advanced another step today when the House of Representatives passed a bill that would keep Social Security numbers off Alaska drivers licenses.

House Bill 110, sponsored by Rep. John Coghill Jr. (R-Fairbanks), would still allow the state to retain records of drivers' Social Security numbers, but would keep the numbers off both operators and commercial drivers licenses.

"Eliminating these numbers from these cards is, sadly, a necessary precaution in our day and age," Coghill said. "When House Bill 110 passes into law, losing your drivers license won't mean losing the key to a lot of personal, medical and financial data about you."

The bill also addresses the problem of the Social Security number outgrowing its original purposes as the account number for the national retirement and health benefits system to become the equivalent of a national identity number, he said.

"We have got ourselves in the position in state government of using the Social Security number to track people, and I object to that," Coghill said. "I look for the day when we don't use the Social Security number as a national identifier, and this bill is an important step in that direction."

The measure now advances to the Senate for consideration.

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Attachments:

• Sponsor Statement for HB 110
  
• Print Friendly Version
  requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 1 page(s) - 101 K

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