I always say that one thing I learned from writing books is that no matter how you write something, somebody will find a different way to interpret it. Spire Security Viewpoint read my Their Capers’ Social Fields as a plea to keep social security numbers more confidential. I wrote it using social security numbers as an example of how any widely used identity key won’t ever be kept confidential, so using such a common key is a bad idea.

Anyway, SSV has an interesting comment:

We need to turn this argument on its head and make all SSNs public record. Then, we can work towards a real solution that can protect the individual.

Yes, good idea. If SSNs were public, it would be so obvious that they’re horrible keys to use for security that maybe organizations would stop doing so.

-jsq