# Social Security Card **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145 "2012-04-18T12:50:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/1 "2012-04-18T12:50:23Z")
I was born in 1953. Most people in that cohort do not have their issued SS card. I used to carry mine in my wallet and the wallet was lost, oh, 25 years ago. I have never before been asked for the card. Now I have received an email that states in part: Unfortunately, it’s required that we have a copy of your SSN card for Provider Enrollment (Medicare/Medicaid) billing purposes and privileging. So, could this possibly be a state or federal LAW, or is this likely just a preference suggested by some lawyer. Also, since I live near SS headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, is there a place I can go to get one issued in person. I do not really like the idea of mailing my original birth certificate to the government. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/2 "2012-04-18T12:54:58Z")
Hah! Born in '46 and still have my original card. 😃 Don’t have all my teeth though.:smack: That said, you should e able to visit the nearest SS office and they can help you get a new card. Just plug your ZIP in [here](https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/FOLO/fo001.jsp) and you’ll be good to go. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/3 "2012-04-18T21:50:54Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > I was born in 1953. Most people in that cohort do not have their issued SS card. Why? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/4 "2012-04-18T21:53:57Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Why? I was born a decade or so after dauerbach and I don’t have mine because it was something I got as a child and have never needed to use for any purpose so I have no idea of where it is. It is probably in some file at my parents house. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/5 "2012-04-18T21:57:10Z")
Back in my day you didn’t get a SS number or card until you went to work. For me that was about 1960 or so. Based on that I got my card after the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/6 "2012-04-18T22:03:05Z")
My FIL still has his and he’s 80 something. Fool carries it in his wallet, too. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/7 "2012-04-18T22:08:02Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > Also, since I live near SS headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, is there a place I can go to get one issued in person. I do not really like the idea of mailing my original birth certificate to the government. There is an office in Owings Mills, Maryland, and [this page](http://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/) describes how to get a replacement SS card. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/8 "2012-04-18T22:34:55Z")
An email from whom? Are you sure it’s not a scam? It’s been my experience that the government and its minions deal in letters, not electronic media. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/9 "2012-04-18T22:35:04Z")
In my experience (admittedly from over 20 years ago) getting a new SS card from your local SS office is quick and easy. However, I would be very wary of sending mine (or even the number) to anybody in response to an email. I think you should be very careful to make sure you are not being phished, possibly by someone who has found out about whatever Medicare/Medicaid transaction you are involved in. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/10 "2012-04-18T22:37:38Z")
I had to get a replacement in 2005 in Houston, I went in person and only had to show my USA passport as ID. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/11 "2012-04-18T22:42:23Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > I do not really like the idea of mailing my original birth certificate to the government. Why? You can always get another certified copy of your birth certificate. There’s nothing special about the original, is there? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/12 "2012-04-18T23:03:57Z")
Like many others, I used my SS number on employment forms, tax forms, etc., but long since had lost my actual physical card. This cost me a chance at a job doing civilian contract support for the military. The Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton insisted on the actual physical card. Since then, I’ve obtained a replacement. (A Social Security branch office is within walking distance of my home!) ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/13 "2012-04-19T01:02:43Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Why? You can always get another certified copy of your birth certificate. There’s nothing special about the original, is there? YOU’RE ONE OF THEM! Gosh, look at the birther thing. Someone thinks they’re sacred relics. I got a job with the state of PA once and had to fork over a SS card for verification before my first payday. Could not recall the last time I’d seen it (only got a number when I was 18 anyway); the Soc Sec office in town (little town but a county seat) was able to hook me up with a replacement pretty quickly-- within a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/14 "2012-04-19T03:37:42Z")
My original card had been lost for decades. But a few years ago, when my wallet was stolen, I couldn’t get a new driver’s license without proof of identity . . . and I wound up having to get a new SS card (as well as a new birth certificate). Other than that, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked for the actual card . . . not even when I actually signed up for Social Security. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/15 "2012-04-19T03:49:49Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My original card had been lost for decades. But a few years ago, when my wallet was stolen, I couldn’t get a new driver’s license without proof of identity . . . and I wound up having to get a new SS card (as well as a new birth certificate). Other than that, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked for the actual card . . . not even when I actually signed up for Social Security. In what way is a Social Security card proof of identity? Supplementary question: why aren’t you allowed to laminate them? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/16 "2012-04-19T04:00:20Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > In what way is a Social Security card proof of identity? I recall that the cards explicitly said they were not proof of identity. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/17 "2012-04-19T04:05:47Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Supplementary question: why aren’t you allowed to laminate them? [You’re allowed to laminate them, but other people are allowed to refuse to accept them if you do:](http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/624/~/laminating-your-social-security-card) > [@](#): > > No it is not illegal, but it’s best not to laminate your card. Laminated cards make it difficult, if not impossible, to detect important security features and an employer may refuse to accept it. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/18 "2012-04-19T04:05:52Z")
Hmmm… seems as if I am not the only guy my age who lost his Social Security card sometime around the dawn of the computer age. Seriously, I know when and where I lost it. I was rafting down the Ocoee River and hit a hydraulic that flipped the raft. I went feet-first down to the next calm and discovered that in the flip and roll, I had lost my wallet. Never bothered replacing the danged thing. I suppose that with my passport, I can get a new one. Didn’t know that I could until I read this thread. Have I mentioned recently how freaking cool this message board is? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/19 "2012-04-19T04:18:20Z")
Until 2007, Ohio required drivers to present their Social Security card every time they renewed their license. Everybody of every age with a drivers license had to find their card or get a replacement at least every four years. (At one point, I remember hearing someone at the BMV say that if you chose not to have your SSN printed on your license, the license was legally invalid unless it was carried with a Social Security card. :rolleyes: I think that rule was eventually shown to be totally false, but I’m not sure about that part. Either way, it’s not true now and no drivers licenses have a Social Security number on them.) ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145/20 "2012-04-19T05:22:26Z")
There is a column that deals with the issues presented here. > **[Why does my old social security card say it can’t be used as ID?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341325/why-does-my-old-social-security-card-say-it-can-t-be-used-as-id)** The column is making me feel very old as Cecil says they dropped the not to be used as identification in 1974. As I recall my card was just a piece of beige colored thin card stock with the a logo and my SS number plus some important sounding words. Nothing that could not be reproduced by a motivated teenager with an inkjet printer, except that teens didn’t have access to quality printers in the early seventies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-card/619145.md?page=2)