[stimulate]

Much,much harder to track non-ciizens without use of SSN.It might even be impossible in practical terms.

[Hostage]

There is the alien registration number and there is capability to assign identifiers to non-citizen travelers as part of their visa documents and their passport checks.

It is not difficult to track aliens.

It is more difficult to reverse the mindsets of LEOs who are more than happy to access all of our private matters. They enjoy the thrill in the same manner as a peeping Tom staring through someone's window or a hunter following animal tracks through the forrest. It is a game.

When tracking terrorists, the game is condoned. When spying on anyone and everyone, the game is over.

The real problem is in tracking the terrorist cells that already exist on American soil. They exist because they were not tracked from the outset. But it is not cumbersome to file a request for a wiretap on persons suspected of association with an alleged terrorist cell. Therefore the trend must be reversed.

[Cobra Scott]

"Much,much harder to track non-ciizens without use of SSN.It might even be impossible in practical terms."

Not at all. I don't use SSN at all, and I have terabytes of data on 20 million americans. Actually, I don't have it, my client does, but I do much of the data mining for them. And this information is all public, if you are willing to invest the time and money to compile it.

That being said, I treat everyone like a number, for reasons related both to efficiency, and ethics. And my client goes to great pains to only market products to those who show an interest in their product, again for reasons relating to both efficiency (economic efficiency) and ethics.

But such information would be ideal for tracking criminal activity. It is already used by unethical and even criminal organizations. Ecofreaks are now putting together these types of databases, as are anti-RKBA groups. Such information could also be used by pedophiles, burglars, Scam artists, you name it.

Am I for changing the laws? I am on the fence; I don't really think it would do much good. Even if there were penalties for abuse (which there are to an extent), it would be difficult to prove, difficult to prosecute, and virtually impossible to undo. Not to mention that much of this data comes from the government itself, and still more is used by the government. And just like gun-control laws, it would be a burdon for ethical businesses and organizations, and ignored by others. Some of the telemarketing crap skirts the laws by basing operations in Canada, for instance.