Things change. At the time Social Security was introduced ("currently" at that time) the SS# was not to be used for identification. Now ("currently" at this time) it is so used.
That is true: things do change. But let’s look at your own example. What are the heinous impositions brought about by using Social Security numbers for identification?
Even so, there are numerous court/legislative decisions that would have to go the wrong way for even one of your hypotheticals to come about.