The President's Identity Theft Task Force, comprising 17 federal agencies and co-chaired by the Attorney General and FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, was formed in May 2006 to develop a comprehensive national strategy to combat identity theft. In April 2007, the task force submitted its strategic plan and recommendations to the President. One of the recommendations was to develop a comprehensive record of SSN use by the private sector and evaluate the necessity of those uses.
The task force recognized that "SSNs are an integral part of our financial system," and that it was important to preserve the beneficial uses of the SSNs to the extent possible. However, it also noted that the "availability of SSNs to identity thieves creates a possibility of harm to consumers." The strategic plan called for task force agencies to gather information from stakeholders and make recommendations to the President about specific steps that should be taken to balance those competing considerations.
In July 2007, FTC staff invited interested parties to comment on the issues surrounding private sector usage of SSNs. More than 300 individuals and entities provided comments.
