[steve-b]

All the major cell providers ask for a SSN these days.

Yep. It's part of the security-theater nonsense vomited up by the previous administration, not the company's idea.

[ReignOfError]

>>>All the major cell providers ask for a SSN these days.

Yep. It's part of the security-theater nonsense vomited up by the previous administration, not the company's idea.

For, e.g., an iPhone, AT&T is coughing up $400 up front. They're extending credit, so they run a credit check. Security doesn't enter into it, nor does the last administration -- Sprint ran my credit when I got my first cell phone in '99.