Sending Veteran or other individuals’ Social Security Numbers (SSNs) through the mail is either eliminated or reduced, thanks to a final rule released and being implemented by VA.

The Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 restricts the inclusion of the SSN on any document or package sent by physical mail, unless required for specific reasons. The specific reasons identified in the final rule are as follows:

  • To comply with other legal mandates;
  • To identify an individual when no alternative is available;
  • To fulfill a Department business need—and joint agreement is needed from the Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP), the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) and the Social Security Number Advisory Board (SSNAB) to continue to include SSN on mailed documents.

If you are a Veteran, your SSN will not be populated on documents sent by mail unless the VA SAOP, the CPO and the SSNAB jointly determine that inclusion of the SSN is necessary. No portion of the SSN will be visible on the outside of any mailing (i.e., letter or package).

VA is fully compliant with this Act and continues to work diligently to protect your personally identifiable information (PII). VA has achieved several accomplishments to date:

  • All VA Administrations reviewed documents, forms and items containing full SSNs that are sent through physical mail. The full SSN was truncated to the last four digits of the SSN or removed where feasible.
  • Veteran SSNs have been eliminated from VA prescription labels, bottles and mailing labels.
  • Veteran SSNs were removed from health care authorization cards issued for the Civilian Health and Medical Program of VA, the Spina Bifida Health Care Program and the Children of Women Vietnam Veterans Health Care Program.
  • Veteran SSNs were either removed or shortened to the last four digits on most Veterans Health Administration correspondence.
  • The Veterans Benefits Administration removed SSNs from outgoing Veterans Assistance Discharge System letters distributed to transitioning service members from Active Duty status to Veteran status.

Read Social Security Number Reduction Overview for more about what VA has done to limit the use of PII. For more information on the final rule, read the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 Implementation Final Rule.

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The comments section is for opinions and feedback on this particular article; this is not a customer support channel. If you are looking for assistance, please visit Ask VA or call 1-800-698-2411. Please, never put personally identifiable information (SSAN, address, phone number, etc.) or protected health information into the form — it will be deleted for your protection.

10 Comments

  1. Howard HAL ollman June 15, 2023 at 12:57

    Back when I was issued my SSN, right on it, it stated, not for reasons for identification, and yet today its used by everyone for just that reason. Mine is free and for all to see in the LOC, AND online in, The Federal Mafia. Forever. And there is nothing I can do about it, I think.

  2. Donald T Wolfe June 15, 2023 at 09:49

    I will not longer provide my full SSN to anyone in the VA. I will not wear any VA hospital wrist tapes with my full SSN on it. You have lost my SSN far to many times. STOP using SSNs.

    • Howard HAL ollman June 15, 2023 at 12:49

      Doesn’t every hosp do that, on wrist band the full SSN? I think so, doesn’t make it right ? though. I have my full SSN in a book, the federal mafia, that is in the LOC. Now that will be there forever, I think. And it is also free online for world to see.

  3. Sonny June 14, 2023 at 20:46

    This exact thing came up at a community care appt and they wanted me to write my full ssn on intake form bc the VA system queues this way. I mentioned that the VA never requires more than my last 4… it was an issue I further had to talk about with the doctor bc they brought it up during my appt… keeping full SSNs on hard copy in a file isn’t good protection of PII. Educate the community care providers as well!

  4. Paul Wilson May 25, 2023 at 19:49

    Why not give veterans the option of using their service number as an I.D. in place of their Social Security Number?

    • Howard HAL OLLMAN June 15, 2023 at 13:04

      Don’t understand, what ID, service number? During WWII they issued service numbers, do they still issue them, or what? It was even on ya dog tags, wasn’t it?

      • Jonathan Turk June 15, 2023 at 18:30

        The Air Force was issuing service numbers, which were around 8 numbers long until around 1968 when they switched to social security numbers. On VA forms they still ask if you had a service number, if you can remember that far back.

    • IT Strategic Communication June 20, 2023 at 09:31

      Service IDs, assigned by DOD, are only available to Veterans and not all individuals (such as caregivers) within VA IT systems, so are not used as primary identifying numbers by VA. The Service ID number is still available as an identity trait for Veterans in the systems.

  5. William Braniff May 25, 2023 at 16:11

    Too many times within the VA we as Veteran users oF VA medical, are forced to give out of S/S numbers to virtual strangers every visit in many cases. Why can’t they just use our last four digits instead of the entire S/S number?

    • IT Strategic Communication June 20, 2023 at 09:33

      To comply with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, VA is working to move away from the use of the SSN as a primary identifier by March 2026. The last 4 of the SSN are not used since multiple Veterans have the same name and last four digits of the SSN, which could be a possible identity risk.

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