In the Netherlands the discussion is on introducing a new number that will replace our Social Security Number. The number, euphemistically called “social service number”, should be used in intra- and extra-government communications. It must also be used when receiving health-care and other services, like opening bank accounts.

The minister not only denies the fact that this new number will increase identity fraud, but even argues that it will increase protection against identity fraud. His argument comes down to the fact that we will be able to uniquely “bind” people to their number. That it won’t solve the issues at hand does not stop the process.

I was wondering if it would be usefuill to setup a public website where people are able to list their number as being “violated”. Any thoughts on this?

any widely used identity key won’t ever be kept confidential,
so using such a common key is a bad idea.