Good grief! Why on earth do you have to jump through so many hoops to just get utilities turned on? And what’s up with having to give your Social Security number for EVERYTHING now? The SS Administration tells us not to give it out, but I can’t even get my phone hooked up without telling them those 9 numbers. Or my propane. Or my electric. I need my tinfoil hat, I think, but I don’t know what box I packed it in 
:grumble…grumble…grumble::
On the old Social Security cards it used to say “for Social Security use only - not to be used for identification.” It doesn’t say that on the newer cards.
they want your SSN these days to check your credit report, so they can charge you a huge deposit if you have spotty credit.
Which I always found weird..people with spotty credit already don’t have extra money. The theory is, well, if you have spotty credit, you’re liable to run up a huge bill and then not pay.
I went through a similar thing with Sprint at the tail end of my joblessness in 2003. But rather than a huge deposit, they said “We want a modest desposit, and we are limiting the amount of money you can run up to this amount..if you haven’t paid it down by then, we cut you off until you do”…I thought this was a lot more sensible.
You would be surprised how often you can get away with refusing to give your SSN. The droid level help is told to get it, expecially the out-sourced off-shore phone droids, and they can be inflexible, but when you get to a supervisor, you find that there are other options and it is not necessary.
Granted, I have not had to start up a utilities account for 25 or more years, but I do have a cell phone account that does not have my SSN. I also refused to give it to the cable company whe I was changing services, and I never give it to doctors, who are always asking for it.
I will give it to banks, because they have a valid tax use for it, but even then, not over the phone.
Recent example – I am taking out a loan through Sallie Mae for the kids’ school. I got the approval, and even the check, but no account number or payment booklet. I called the 800 number and got Haji in Shi-Thead, India, who asked for my SSN. I refused and told him to look it up another way. He asked for an account number, and I told him I didn’t have one. He said he must have an SSN, and I said I must talk to (1) a supervisor, and (2) someone in the U.S. I got a supervisor, who tranferred me to the US, and in a couple of minutes, I was talking to a good old boy in Texas who got my information without even asking for an SSN.
The point: Don’t settle for the first answer. Be a pain in the ass.
Thats some good general life advice right there 
4+ years ago, one was given the “option” of not having your SSN on your driver’s license in Ohio. Of course, I went with that option.
Fast forward 4 years to having to renew your license. Guess what? You need to show your SS CARD to renew your driver’s license. Since the number isn’t on your license. And telling them it isn’t good enough. I actually had one BMV worker state “well, you should carry your SS card with you at all times”. NOT!
But the best one is, when you take your child in to get their temps or license, you need to - yep - you guessed it - have the PARENT’S SS card shown!!!