this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2026
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I rented a car, and within hours, my driver's license was for sale (arstechnica.com)
submitted 2 days ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 18 hours ago

The numbers aren't random. They are sequential. The early digits are assigned geographically, but the rest are in sequence. If you know a valid social security number, adding or subtracting 1 will be another valid social security number, most likely someone born in the same hospital on the same day.

They did change it somewhat recently, but they don't re-assign the numbers when making that change, so most of the numbers are completely insecure.