Identity theft / security question

[Anonymous]

So, my DH did something that I think is very stupid--namely, emailing a (black and white) image of the front of his social security card (which has, of course, ss#, full name, and signature), to a company he was contracting with. Apparently he only had his driver's license when he was on-site doing the work and said he would get them the 2nd form of id later. Well, this was his solution to that--sending his ss card over the Internet (he sent it to his point of contact to print out and give to HR; the point of contact is an old friend and former co-worker). I am totally annoyed with him, as I try to be very careful about safeguarding info like this. He could have faxed it, or of course, remembered to bring it in the first place. What's done is done, I guess, but I'm wondering: based on your experience, could we have any issues if someone just got their hands on this image?--either during transmission of afterward (such as if the email was forwarded on purpose or by mistake)? I don't think his friend would do anything like that on purpose, so it's not him I'm worried about--just the general idea of it being "out there." Thanks in advance; I'm guessing I'm being a little paranoid, just wondering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, my DH did something that I think is very stupid--namely, emailing a (black and white) image of the front of his social security card (which has, of course, ss#, full name, and signature), to a company he was contracting with. Apparently he only had his driver's license when he was on-site doing the work and said he would get them the 2nd form of id later. Well, this was his solution to that--sending his ss card over the Internet (he sent it to his point of contact to print out and give to HR; the point of contact is an old friend and former co-worker). I am totally annoyed with him, as I try to be very careful about safeguarding info like this. He could have faxed it, or of course, remembered to bring it in the first place. What's done is done, I guess, but I'm wondering: based on your experience, could we have any issues if someone just got their hands on this image?--either during transmission of afterward (such as if the email was forwarded on purpose or by mistake)? I don't think his friend would do anything like that on purpose, so it's not him I'm worried about--just the general idea of it being "out there." Thanks in advance; I'm guessing I'm being a little paranoid, just wondering.

I think you are being paranoid. Companies copy your SS card for your I-9 and keep it in their files; it's only as secure as the company's files, so whatever risk there is on that end, it's the same as if he had presented the card or a hard copy.

Unless he did it from a virus-ridden public computer, I'd say there is almost zero additional risk from sending it via email.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, there's not zero risk -- the mail server for either your DH or the contractor could be compromised, and then the SS card image would leak.

However, I think he'll be fine, probably. Just do your due diligence and check your credit report every 4 months or so, and report anything suspicious right away.

[Anonymous]

OP, here. Thanks. The email was sent from one work email account to another, not from a public computer (thank goodness). DH just told me he asked his contact to delete the email, which he says he did. So that's good. Still annoyed with DH but at least he sent it to a friend who he trusts and not some random person he doesn't know. Sigh--I'll try to get over it. Thx for the feedback, posters. This reminds me that I should be checking our credit reports on a regular basis anyway, which I have neglected to do recently. Thx!