Why Does AT&T Need My Social Security Number to Connect My iPhone?

Birthday parties are a wonderful thing.....especially if they are celebrating the beginning of a new decade. Not only do you get to see all the members of your family, but many of your closest friends show up. And a few even bring presents.

At my most recent birhday party my ex gave me a fantastic gift....the new Apple iPhone. What a beauty!! I couldn't believe how far I had come in the last five years. In 2002 I bought my first cell phone ever...a Motorola starTAC. I kept that phone until a couple of months ago when I was finally embarrassed into buying a new model. I rarely saw anyone on the street who had a clamshell mobile phone with an antenna that one had to raise and lower manually. One person once complemented me on it, and he said it was "so retro". However, my kids and my friends begged me to get something else. Finally I did. I bought the Motorola Q (or Moto Q for short) and thought I was one cool dude.

I was very happy with my new cell phone. It was much sleeker than the old bulky starTAC. Then along comes Apple's new iPhone and everyone is talking about it. You would have to be living underwater not to know about it. And bingo I get one for a birthday present. Now I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I am still one to look at expenses. Since I already have a new cell phone that works fine I'm not convinced that I should pay monthly fees for another one. But the problem is that my cell phone service is limited to domestic calls. And since I am leaving shortly for Europe I finally decided to hook up the iPhone as it also works internationally.

This is where the fun begins. I read the brochure that came with the cell phone and am told the only way I can get service is hook it up to iTunes. Fine and dandy, but how do you do that. Fortunately I was at a dinner the other night with several thirty something techies and I noticed that they all had iPhones. But so did a friend who was studying at Harvard Business School. I asked him if he could help me, and he came over to my place and plugged in the iPhone to my PC meanwhile chastising me for not having an Apple computer. He downloaded iTunes and then I proceeded to fill out a few forms in order to get AT&T service. As everyone is also aware you can only use AT&T with your new iPhone. I presently use another phone company for my Moto Q, and am quite happy with their service. In fact I even bought their stock I liked the company so much. But I don't have any choice because AT&T has a monopoly if you want iPhone service. We will come back to that in a moment.

I check the first box for 450 minutes (I don't need more because I will soon have two cell phone plans) for $59.99 and I click "continue". Next I enter my email address, and my new password. I now have a couple of dozen passwords for different groups and it is getting impossible to remember them all. Some people say use the same password but that doesn't make sense because if someone figures it out they have access to all your accounts. Then I fill in my birthdate as if that is vital information for opening an account. However they say they need it because "you must be at least 18 years old" to open an account. Why don't they just have a box that says "over 18?" It would save a few extra seconds of typing. Plus does everyone need to know our age?

The next page asks for my name (no problem), billing address (no problem until the computer responds that it won't accept a P.O. Box which is where I get my bills sent....I can't go on until I give a street address), home phone (I can live with that, but what if I didn't have a home phone like most people under 30?) And then they ask the mother of all questions....what is your social security number? My Social Security number??? Why in the world does AT&T need my SS#? Are they a bank that reports interest payments to the IRS? Are they my employer that reports my earnings to the IRS? No not even close.

So I click on "Why do we need this?" right after the empty SS# box which I will not fill in. It says

"Your Social Security Number is required by AT&T. By providing your Social Security Number, you give credit check consent and reporting authorization as follows:

I authorize any person, or consumer or credit reporting agency to provide any information it has on me or the entity on whose behalf I make this application.

I authorize AT&T to:

*Compile this information

*Disclose my account information including my payment history and confidential information to credit reporting agencies or private credit reporting associations

*Periodically obtain and use my credit report and other credit information from any source in connection with AT&T's offering of wireless and other services. I understand that if I fail to fulfill the terms of my credit obligations under the Agreement, AT&T may report my failure to a credit reporting agency.

To learn more about how your personal information is used and securely stored, read AT&T's Privacy Policy."

That was singularly uninformative.

After I leave the SS# box blank, the next entry is for my credit card information for iTunes purchases. I don't know why this is on the AT&T form but I fill it out even though I don't ever plan to purchase anything from iTunes. (It must be obvious by now that I didn't just celebrate my 30th or even 40th birthday.)

So then I click "continue" but it won't let me continue until I fill in the SS# information which I won't do because I have read enough about identity theft to know that this is not a good idea. Also somewhere in the back of my mind I recall being told by lawyers that you don't have to give your SS# for most things including getting access to the air waves which the public owns. When I got cable TV service for my home I didn't have to give it. It seems an unwarranted invasion of privacy and I don't know why more people don't strenuously object.

So since the computer wouldn't let me complete my application, the following day I went to see a live person at one of AT&T's customer service centers. When I walked into the store there were several sales people standing around. I went up to one and said that I would like to sign up for AT&T service for my new iPhone. I was told that he couldn't do that because they didn't have an internet connection, and I needed to go on the internet to get service. (AT&T doesn't have internet service at that store...go figure.) I told him I had already been on the internet, but that I didn't want to give my SS# to AT&T. He said he couldn't help me.

So I went back to my office and called AT&T's toll free number and I explained my situation to the nice woman on the other end of the phone. She completely understood my concern, and she said that if I were willing to provide a $1000 deposit then I wouldn't have to give my entire SS#, but only the last four digits of it. With great relief I thanked her and said that I would be glad to provide her with my credit card info for the deposit. Then she told me that she couldn't help me because I would need to visit a customer service center to take the required information. Once there they would be able to provide me with an AT&T pre-approved credit check code which I could enter on my computer in a box on the page with th e infamous SS# request. As AT&T explains it: "With an AT&T Pre-Approved Credit Check Code, AT&T will activate your iPhone service without performing another credit check during iPhone activation."

Hallelujah....I just struck pay dirt!! Or so I thought.

So off I go to another AT&T customer service center which miraculously has internet service. So I tell the nice gentleman what the nice lady on the phone had told me and his brow furls. He says that he would have to have my full SS# in order to give me a pre-approved credit check code. But I told him that I had asked the person on the AT&T toll free line twice to repeat the fact that I would only need to provide the last four digits of my SS#, and she had assured me twice that that would be all I needed. And I was ready to provide a $1000 deposit in order to get service (which now that I think about it is just a little outrageous but, hey, I wanted to join all my cool friends who had this hip iPhone...lol).

After further discussion for several minutes, I finally realized that I had hit the proverbial brick wall.....and AT&T had "won" a pyrrhic victory. In the good old days when I was younger I wouldn't have quit. I would have called a vice president of the company to inform them of how stupid this policy was, or that they should get their act together and have all their people talking from the same script. And when I was even younger I would have gone all the way to the top and tried to reach the president of AT&T. But life is too short, and we now have the internet and blogs to vent our frustration in cyberspace. Maybe someone from AT&T will actually see this blog and reach out to me.

Now to return to the point I made earlier. AT&T has a monopoly on cell phone service for the iPhone. (Is that American?) If they didn't have a monopoly I could have used my present service provider without going through all this hassle.....and in the end having nothing to show for it. After all I have been through, I can't say I blame all those people who have found ways to unlock the iPhone from AT&T's tight grip. They are the true entrepreneurs! And that innovative spirit is what built this great country of ours.

Oh and one last thing. Please no more high tech presents from anyone at my next birthday party. Just give me a good old fashioned book. In the time it took me to try and get phone service I could have read the last Harry Potter novel.....and had a lot more fun.

Comments

[fact finder]

Smash the iphone and tell them to go suck an egg.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

Thanks for the head-up info, Congressman H, great artical. I knew there was a reason I wasn't jumping on the I-phone band-wagon. To tell the truth though, I didn't even have a cell phone until about 2 years ago, and have in many ways regretted it since.

The whole giving them permission to disclose my information to others, or ANYBODY, bothers me a lot.

[GlennInVenice]

I recently went through the cleansing experience of dumping AT&T (it was actually Cingular I originally signed with) and joined T-Mobile. Clearly the level of technical service with T-Mobile is not as good as that offered by the corporate giant but that is just fine by me. T-Mobile didn't provide the fed phone records without warrant and do not need to gather a portfolio of personal information about me to offer me service.

Today on my to-do list is to dump Verizon (my home phone) for their recent actions with the FCC trying to limit access to smaller firms to the recently opened up broadcast frequencies.

No more money to Democrats (ANY of them) who are proving unwilling to risk their power to stop the bloody war. Instead I am giving that money to moveon.org, hoping they will challenge ANYBODY running (regardless of label) who is not trying to bring us back to a peaceful state and stop provoking those that find our American brand distasteful.

I find our brand distasteful. Who can blame them?

If money is all that counts to the power-hungry leaders of our run-away capitalism, I will do what I can to remove mine.

[jazzman]

So why do you need an IPhone anyway? Don't purchase it and don't blindly give away your privacy. Go for long walks instead. You'll be alot happier, believe me.

[stevielee]

"AT&T..Your World Delivered"- To the NSA!

[empressov]

Using a cell phone internationally isn't all it's cracked up to be--the proces are outrageous and the coutner-alternative is actually rather simple and affordable.

Call your provider of the Moto-Q phone you own and request the unloack pass code so you can use your phone with another SIM card when you travel internationally. If you have been with them for more than a month or so, they should give it to you no problem and walk you through the unlock process.

Then, travel and just find a cellular service store when you arive at your destination (e.g. Carphone warehouse, or T Mobile, etc). There you will want to purchase a SIM pack with a Top Up card. Ask them and they will likely help you swap out your current SIM card for this new one which will work with the new local provider's plans and at their local rates and they will help get you activated with a new local number for use when abroad.

Whenever I travel I now just swap the SIM card, activate and pull out the top up card (to pay money for minutes) and am good to go in minutes after touchdown.

[DemandTruth]

Ha! You COULD have tried to go up the chain of command to get something accomplished, but you would have run into the same thing...

Everyone would have told you something different (just enough to get you off their phone) and no one's stories would match - even at the top levels.

I've seen this with every single company I have to do business with now. Rajid tells you you won't be billed for something. Then when you get billed for it, Sally tells you that Rajid couldn't possibly have said that because they MUST bill you. Then she finally submits and says she'll give you credit on the next bill.

Then next month, when you get a DOUBLE bill, the dude in India (who you can't understand anyway) tells you there's nothing he can do about that, it's company procedure. And who are these Rajid and Sally people anyway? They don't work in HIS branch in India, so there's nothing you or anyone can do about it and please pay us our money now, thankyou very much. And on and on and on.

All the representatives remain willfully ignorant of your account, there's no communication between them so every time you call (after holding for 30 minutes) you have to start from scratch to get anything done. Then it never gets done like they say anyway.

It's all to wear the consumer down - most people don't have the time to argue and will just submit - pay the money they shouldn't owe, or give their personal information that they shouldn't have to give. This is now the way we do business in America. All the power and leverage rests with the companies, and you have no recourse at all.

Yay capitalism!

[oogabooga]

Stop being a chump playing the ATT suckers game. Use pay-as-you go Metro, Virgin, T-Mobile etc. No SS number, birthdate etc. Phoning with privacy protected.

[Trebla]

I don't understand the problem. If you don't like the service- don't buy it. Or in your case, sell your iPhone on eBay and continue using your perfectly adequate old phone.

[MissingAmerica]

I recall a number of years ago when Ma Bell was broken up because it appeared she had a monopoly in the market. It would appear we have come full circle. Once more, Ma Bell has us by the privates.

[Ohsillydutchman]

Am i the only one a little bit horrified at the explanation for why they needed the social security number. I mean theyre basically just saying that theyre going to compile information about you and then report that to any credit reporting agencies (Governement run mind you) whenever they so choose. Kinda freaky theyre being so outright about it.

[zizyphus]

Since 911 everyone is scared into thinking they need to be on a cell phone, where people can track them 24/7.

I hate cell phones, and was relieved to finally be rid of mine. I found them extremely irritating to use, as they do not conform to human features, like old fashioned telephones.

I bet in another 10 years, evidence will point to the harm these phones can do to peopleʻs health and the environment.

[Dejack]

I have never owned a cell phone -- not ever -- and have never seen the necessity of talking or texting or doing whatever while I'm walking down a grocery aisle or driving. I just don't get it and never have, and thought I was the last person on the planet who would say that.

[Dejack]

Oh,..or talking or texting while using a public restroom, as some people feel completely un-embarrassed to do -- much to my horror! -- even with flushing noises as a backdrop...
How low we have sunk (sank?)...whatever!

[thruseer]

Michael, AT&T, courtesy of Bush, allows the FBI and CIA to explore your communications records. With an SSN as key, our U.S. spy organizations are able to associate your communications log to other databases and then mine a complete picture of your life, finances, movements, communications, everything. Cheney sits in his bunker-vault and thinks this stuff up; Bush "decides" it would be cool to have that power, Rove gets it done before anyone knows. This is the USA we now live in.

[oogabooga]

The answer is simple. Stop being a chump. Dump ATT, which also wants to ban an open internet so they can charge for everything. Get Metro, Virgin or T-Mobile instead. No ripoff contracts, no ripoff fees, no costly scams in the fine print. You just pay for what you need. For long conversations, use your home phone, if you still have one, or meet your friends for coffee.

[NYCBear]

Those who are happy to turn over all their personal information to large corporations are right, in their own way - it's easier to trust authority blindly, it's easier to assume that no harm will befall them as a result, it's easier to not rock the boat and just ignore any casual trampling of their rights that a corporation may do.

Then there are those of us who know some history, and understand that the only bulwark against the abuse of power is to speak out or take some action. I'm closer to the attitudes of Mr. Franklin, Ms. Adams, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Lincoln on this one than I am to Mr. Reagan, Mr. Nixon or Mr. Bush.

Are we who protest always effective? We're often not effective at all. AT&T will not miss my business, for example. And I dropped Verizon a long time ago for their bad behavior, yet they seem to remain in the pink of corporate health.

We're usually not effective because we're always way outnumbered by our complacent and apathetic brethren, who say "that's the way it is".

Occasionally, though, enough of us speak up and make a ruckus to convince a company that their actions are bad for their profits, or to convince a craven politician that his or her job is endangered by supporting corporations instead of humans - and then we get change.