Identity Theft and Children

This is a cautionary article about the impact of identity theft on children.

A child's social security number may be used by another person -- typically an illegal alien -- for many years before the fraud is discovered, because the child isn't using the number himself. The identity theft can also be more difficult to clear up than it is for adults, for reasons enumerated in the article.

It occurs to me that by requiring children to obtain social security numbers in infancy -- I didn't have my own number until I was in my teens and ready to get a job -- our government is setting children up to have this important information compromised...particularly because the same government has exacerbated the problem by refusing to seriously enforce the borders or enforce sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens.