SSN Policy Manual

The Voluntary Nature of the Social Security Number

This section is a compilation of the various laws and regulations that define the voluntary nature of the social security number. Study this list carefully as you will find it contains a lot of important information and will be a valuable resource when asserting your rights. To avoid a lot of unnecessary overhead each item contains only enough excerpt to establish the content of the topic. You can read the entire law or section on the Web.

List of Laws and Regulations

Excerpt (a) GAO may not require individuals to disclose their social security number (SSN) unless disclosure would be required ... Under ... statute ... (b) Individuals .. . shall suffer no penalty or denial of benefits for refusing to provide it. In footnote: Section 7 of Pub. L. 93-579 provided that: (a)(l) It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or local government agency to deny to any individual any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual's refusal to disclose his Social Security account number.

Title Social security number.

Code 4 CFR 83.9

Records maintained on individuals

5 USC Sec. 552a