Originally Posted by poser

Pretty annoying, huh?

I was asked to provide similar information about three weeks ago after attempting to purchase an AT&T prepaid phone card (for international calls on an AT&T mobile phone). They called me up at about 3am (I had made the online purchase at midnight or thereabouts), and asked me for information to "...generate a list of questions to which only I would know the answers." Sounds like the same service.

HOWEVER, they only asked for the last four digits of my SSN.

Which I gave them. Either because I was half-asleep or because...at this stage in the game, I figure you can get the last four digits of my SSN from the goddam Yellow Pages.

Anyway, the list of questions they generated was hilarious. They asked four true/false questions regarding whether or not I had ever "owned or leased property" in a given US county. The answer, in all cases, was "no." That was deemed sufficient information to authenticate me as myself.

Originally Posted by sparkbox

I will sell you my N810 for $409 and your SSN# you can have it this Wednesday.

Originally Posted by heron61

I had something very similar happen when I recently got a new t-mobile prepaid phone. A day after I made the order, they called me up, asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN (which I find annoying, but not unacceptable, unlike asking for my full SSN) and then asked me a bunch of questions about previous places I've lived. Since I've only moved once in the past decade, they asked me questions about places I lived 14-17 years ago, which was a bit disturbing. Privacy is largely an illusion these days. OTOH, I'm still not giving people my entire SSN w/o a very good reason.

Again, in person in the US makes a huge difference. The US govt. is firmly entrenched in the 1700's. I've been personally shown and handed stuff you wouldn't believe. But call on the phone and it's an entirely different ball game. (Plus the N95 may not have had the magic gizmo that makes it restricted tech.)

Originally Posted by iball

Heh. Try living outside the U.S. for 13 consecutive years.
They don't even bother to call me to ask me anything. I inform them at the store where I setup my one-year contract (also T-Mobile) that if I ever, ever, ever, get a phone call or unwanted SMS message from them that I will physically hurt them.
So far so good. No one from T-Mobile calls me or sends unwanted SMS messages. The store is right down the street from me.



You need to go back and re-read the U.S. export regs again, bucko.
If you're "just being handed stuff" like I "wouldn't believe" then it leads me to believe two things:

1. You're lying and/or exaggerating. Do you even know what a "blue card" is?

2. You're not being handed anything we "wouldn't believe", i.e. it's all unclassified and open to FOIA requests, unredacted.

And at no time, EVER, is a piece of freely-available-around-the-world consumer electronics EVER going to require a U.S. retailer to obtain SSN data from a purchaser due to non-existant U.S. Government regulations.
Just because you are anti-U.S.-government doesn't mean they don't think you're stupid.

Originally Posted by iball

Nokia - and whatever reseller they're using - can shove that SSN requirement up their asses.

They also need to be DAMN careful. One word in the right ear about a European company collecting American SSN data....buh-bye.
I'm only bitter because the entire EU community slammed the U.S. Army for trying to issue special ID cards to "Local National" civilians working for them overseas in Europe that would allow them to access the computers and networks they would need to in order to do their jobs. Took them more than two years to work that out, the lazy rat bastards.
Also, no U.S. company - or government agency - can collect and house data on EU citizens, according to the EU regs. But we all know they are.
Trust me, the first time someone with a slight foreign accent rings up a bank to query an American SSN and credit card info someone at the bank will wind up calling the cops thinking it's yet another 409 scam.
If your bank lets that slide, put your money in a better bank.

The Social Security Number was invented solely for the purpose of the Social Security Administration.
It was NEVER intended to be used as a national ID number similar to a Nazi concentration camp ID tattoo as it is today.
Do you see that number on your driver's license? No, you don't. If you do then your state is in violation of federal law.

Originally Posted by smammon

Interesting - one minute I'm defending the govt based on my speculation. The next I'm anti-govt. Busy day... Plus I got called "Bucko" bonus points!

Congrats on your physical intimidation of your local t-mobile store too.

Who knows how a given company meets export regs. I've jumped through all shorts of hoops. The root of this is just my guess as to why the "security questions". Draw your own conclusions - Hell I'm probably wrong and I just contributed the contents of my bank account to some criminal organization - that incidentally is automatically forwarded from the Nokia corporate telephone system. It's true I have no common sense and can't tell classified material from my elbow. You've outed me.

I've grown to be somewhat of a cynic over the years - sometimes it shows. Sometimes I stay home.

Originally Posted by LurkerN

... In the meantime I will play with my shiny new N810, as it shipped today