Originally published at: Two women issued the same Social Security Number, and the SSA won't help | Boing Boing
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I know we’re being conditioned that “government bad, government no work!” but this is one of those places where their respective congresspeople should be able to help.
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Oh man this is going to end with a Highlander style showdown, isn’t it?
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This reminds me… i put in to get a new copy of my card - went to an interview and everything - and uh - I never got it.
I did move in the process so with my luck some asshole who moved into my apt has it now 
I hope not.
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Harry Tuttle, “Bloody paperwork…”
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If this was me, I would try creating a corporation called Jieun Kim Inc. and getting an EIN (Employer ID Number, basically a SS number for corporations) and see if that helps in any way.
I’ve known people that created FIRSTNAME LASTNAME INC companies many many years ago and whenever they got a personal check made out in their name it went into their “corporate self” account. I don’t know how widespread this is/was but I only found out by paying for things with checks and finding the canceled check had been deposited into a Corporate account.
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I read the headline and thought, “Well, at least they’ll be distinguished by having different names and birthdates…” and whoo boy, it’s so much worse than I expected.
Hey, what do you know - all those dystopian fictions about government bureaucracies making it impossible to live one’s life, but also impossibly to know why because of secrecy, actually exist in (late stage) capitalism!
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I had a problem with my Social Security account, a single letter in my first name had been incorrectly recognized when they converted from paper to computer records. It didn’t cause any problems over the years, so I chose to ignore it. When it came time to actually apply for benefits, however, it had to be fixed. Luckily, I still had the original card and a valid passport. Scheduled an appointment at my local SSA office, problem solved in about 15 minutes. The thing is, though, it had to be done in person, phone calls or emails won’t work. The article suggests that in the end the women did exactly that and a solution was in the works. The SSA may be a bureaucracy, but they aren’t impossible to deal with, you just need to do it face to face.
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One time the pros in HR entered my ssn with an 05 instead of an 02 despite them having a photocopy of my card. So my ss with-holdings were going into someone else’s account. It took over 2 years to correct that problem.
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“We have to protect your identity from yourself.”
/s
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Why do I have a feeling that if this was happening to two John Smiths, the SSA would get it figured out the first time?
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A week ago, I received a subpoena to appear as a witness in a criminal case.
The defendant in the case was someone who I had never heard of, so I called the judge’s office to figure out what I was being summoned for.
Turns out, someone with my name, who also lives in my town, is missing a subpoena. I am still trying to work my way though the bureaucracy, to get this cancelled, or I will have to show up to court for no other reason than to avoid a contempt charge.
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This wouldn’t happen if the Fedrul Gubmint was abolished except for the military (MURRICA!!1!) and then the states had to subcontract all their Kafkaesque functions to Facebook 
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I mean, they already subcontracted most of it out to the banks and credit card companies…
@Shuck don’t you know any problem you have with capitalism is actually the result of socialism
Why do you hate America
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We changed my wife’s name with the SSA when we got married in '84. In 2002 we filled our taxes electronically for the first time, it was rejected.
Took a while to figure out it was because my wife’s social security number was under the wrong name.
We couldn’t find the marriage license that they needed or her birth certificate.
A trip to downtown Detroit to the Federal building and county building was required. 911 was still a thing so the security was insane, they had cement barriers surrounding the buildings and everyone was searched.
But once we got the papers it went smoothly.
The bigger problem was getting confirmation that almost 15 years of taxes was applied to her account. Took a while but we did get written confirmation.
I agree with @necoro this is a case where a representative should help.
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Any bets that someone put a composite unique key on columns FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME and DATE_OF_BIRTH?
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In some cultures namespace clash happens all the time, being based in Asia, I find that most frequently with Korea and Indonesia but of course it can happen anywhere.
In the company I work for, there are multiple people with the same name, including 2 in the same department which makes things fun.
Slightly related, I regularly reread this link to remind myself to not make assumptions when it comes to names. Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names | Kalzumeus Software
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Both of the women in this case are Korean.
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