<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD><A name=4>
<H4></A>&</H4></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>


<FONT face="courier new, courier, mono">Disclosure of& social security& number. Act Dec. 31, 1974,P.L. 93-579, Section 7, 88 Stat. 1909, provided:
&
&
"(a)(1) 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.
&
"(2) the provisions& of paragraph& (1)& of& this& subsection
shall not apply with respect to --
&
&"(A) any& disclosure which& is& required& by& Federal&statute, or
&
& "(b) the disclosure& of a social security number to any& Federal, State,& or& local& agency& maintaining& a&system& of& records& in& existence& and& operating&before January& 1, 1975,& if such&disclosure was&required under statute or regulation adopted prior
to& such date& to& verify& the& identity& of& an&individual.
&
"(b) Any Federal,& State, or& local government& agency which&requests an& individual& to& disclose& his& social& security
account number& shall inform& that individual& whether& that&disclosure is& mandatory or& voluntary, by what statutory or&other authority such number is solicited, and what uses will&be made of it."</FONT>


<FONT face="courier new, courier, mono">Comments by Paul Mitchell follow</FONT>


<FONT face="courier new, courier, mono">Congress deliberately failed to codify this statute in Title 5 of the United States Code. You will find it embedded at the end of the historical notes within the Privacy Act. When a government employee was sued for violating this Act, he asserted ignorance of the law as his defense. The court upheld this defense, thus creating an important exception to the general rule that ignorance of the law is no excuse. My reading of this decision is that the court was giving silent judicial notice to the fact that Congress actually "hid" the law; thus, the court's holding did not really overturn the maxim (ignorance is not excuse); it merely recognized that fraud vitiates everything, even the most solemn promises. I have taken this statute and reduced it down to the size of a standard credit card. Then, I laminated it in plastic and saved it in my wallet. Later, I gave it away to an attendee of one of Lynne Meredith's seminars; the attendee was mostly incredulous that such a law even existed. It is very easy to make another one. I prefer to take a photocopy right out of the law books, and to laminate that photocopy. Try it! It is always very powerful to witness these laws yourself, at the local county law library. Take this email message down to the reference librarian, and see if s/he can locate it for you. The Privacy Act can be found in the reference volume which lists statutes by name. Good luck!</FONT>


<FONT face="courier new, courier, mono">Paul Andrew Mitchell
November 1996 A.D.
All Rights Reserved</FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>