Somebody laminated my birth certificate. But what are they going to do about it, unborn me? Wait… will they?
Edit: What if somebody laminates my death certificate? 😭
That’s how zombies are created.
What is
deadlaminated may never die.“Comimg soon: RE-LAMINATOR!”
We’ve really gotta regulate these laminators.
Never going to happen. The lamination lobby has deep pockets.
They could make you go get another one when you try to use it, which is a pain in the ass.
How often are you even using your death certificate? I mean, yeah, the discount at Disneyworld is a sweet deal, but otherwise?
Late but I think it’ll depend where you are and what security features birth certificates where you are have. Where I am, the paper has a unique feel to it and also has one of those little hologram type sticker things on the back. So I imagine laminating it would cause issues in official circumstances where they want to feel the paper. Also not sure if it’d affect the sticker things or not, but the heat from the laminator could cause damage if done wrong
But if the BDM department where you are is lazy and literally just print your info onto an official looking piece of paper, I’d argue the point. I don’t see what laminating it would do in that situation, although when it comes to government departments, they don’t tend to be very flexible. If you were just showing it to verify your identity or working rights for a job or something I doubt anybody would refuse it in either situation
Mine is still in the envelope it came in nearly 40 years ago and is still attached to the perforated paper card. Why carry it with you and destroy it? I’ve never on a whim needed to show it to anyone.
Edit: missed a word.
Yep. There’s no reason to carry this around with you on the daily. Stick it in a file in a safe file box of some sort. I can’t remember the last time someone asked for a physical SS card…maybe when we applied for my kids’ passports? No idea.
Maybe OP applies for a lot of jobs and is brown enough to be told they need to actually see it? Iunno
Oh, you forgot the part where you are only allowed a fixed number of replacements in your lifetime.
10 in your life. 3 each year.
My mom laminated mine when I was like 6 years old. It still has my 6 year-old, childish signature on it. Every time I use it someone says “you’re not supposed to laminate these”, and then they accept it anyways. So who’s the fool now?
My ex’s dad laminated his whole ass birth certificate. He had a bitch of a time fixing that lmao.
Though I think people ask for birth certificate less often than they do our SIN (and also our SIN cards are actual literal cards in Canada not just pieces of paper).
I always thought my birth certificate was the little vanity one with my feet prints on it. I learned it isn’t when I actually needed a birth certificate for the first time. Since I live in an entirely different State now it was a bit of a PITA to get the real one.
Not to defend the social security number system (because it’s terrible for unique identification of individuals and when it was created it wasn’t even intended to be used for that purpose) but you’re not supposed to carry it around with you all the time. It’s supposed to be in a drawer/safe/fireproof bag with the rest of your important documents, and only brought out when you need it.
Why make it a card then? If it’s meant to be stored as a document then it should be the size of an envelope, or a standard A4 sheet.
I keep mine attached to the envelope sized paper it came on. But it shouldn’t be a card shape, that encourages people to carry it. My grandpa always carried his.
Don’t mention A4 paper, it scares the Americans. If any of them could read, they would be very afraid right now.
A4
Is that a type of rifle? I’ll take 12!
You’ll get either 8 ½ or 11 and you’ll like it.
Today I’m going to use paper to feel superior to someone else.
To be fair, simply not having to live in the US already gives that rush.
Amateur, we professionals don’t have to use anything for that
Using entirely reasonable standards that most of the rest of the world has adopted is too hard for us for some reason.
This week on “Things Non-Americans Think Americans Don’t Know About!”
Right?
Like just because we export all our media to you (because it’s better) and make fun of our stereotypes in that media, doesn’t mean that most of us are like that. Believe it or not we actually have cool stuff that’s uniquely American.
And the reason you see Kraft singles is because we don’t want to share our BBQ with you.
export all our media to you (because it’s better)
Lmao. Get back to me when you’ve got something like Taskmaster, Would I Lie To You, or QI.
You’re proving my point though? Those all look like C rate game shows that show up in the worst time slots here in the states.
If you said Doctor who, like 15 years ago, then I’d give you a solid maybe.
American here, you’re straight up wrong. We have no equivalent to their panel shows. Comparing them to game shows is like comparing open heart surgery to being stabbed.
look like
Yeah that’s an American problem. Preferring a glossy looking garbage over something non-glamorous but substantial.
FYI I’m neither American nor European.
We can’t do everything for you guys. We’re holding down the imperial system almost single handedly. Help a brother out.
America has the Squid Games reality show and Mr Beast. They’re kind of like Taskmaster if the point of Taskmaster was dangling life changing money in front of poor people.
They’re nothing like Taskmaster then lmao.
Hey now, I can read…but, what’s this A4 paper you speak of?
It’s a size of paper with an aspect ratio of 1:√2, and the short edge that is 21cm long. The long edge will then be 21√2 = 29.7cm. The aspect ratio has the interesting property that it can be halved and doubled while remaining constant.
This has been your ISO fact of the day.
Subscribe to ISO facts
ISO 7304-2:2008 defines a standard for cooking spaghetti. Subsection 3.9 “Completeness” closely resembles “al denté” but isn’t true al denté; as 3.9 states “no white core visible” when a noodle is inspected crosswise with a razor blade. Al denté phase is sensed via the teeth for texture differential of the inner and outer part of a spaghetti. No agreement has been reached by international consortium of Italian food preparers and dentists as to which tooth is to be used. Thus, the standard must be reviewed every 5 years by sensory analysis.
8/11.5 but more metric
8/11.5
Not sure if a joke or an actual paper size
Actually a size. More commonly referred to as “letter” sized. It’s 8x11.5 inches, which is pretty close to A4, but it’ll confuse printers if you mix the 2 up.
It’s actually 8.5x11 not 8x11.5
Every time ya try to fix the NatID problem though suddenly it’s a surveillance state system and not just an efficient nexus for federal services and permissions.
There are some people who don’t want a national ID system because they think that’s like a biblical prophecy. Somehow those people are still allowed to operate heavy machinery.
Some people don’t want it because they don’t want a functional government.
Ain’t that the truth. Fuckin’ lunatics.
That’s the thing. At this point, anything that could replace ssn cards will be much more technical and much more invasive.
Does it even matter when data brokers already know everything about you and happily sell that info?
People freak about national IDs while happily giving all their info to websites like amazon or facebook. It’s insane.
oooo yeah my ID card is so invasive, it has my birth date and a photo on it!
Eh… You guys all use credit cards anyway
No, it would be less technical since it would cut down the number of cards you have to carry around, and be less invasive since it would drastically raise the difficulty of identity theft
I’ve lost my place to stay more than I’ve lost my wallet.
I’ve heard blur is not destructive. Please use a paintbrush on 100% opacity if you do this
When I post pictures with blurred information, I replace the info with something trollish and then blur it. Nobody appreciated that so far. :(
Depends on the kind of blur. Some kinds can indeed be almost perfectly removed if you know the used blurring function, others are destructive. But, yes, don’t take that chance. Always delete/paint over sensitive information.
Source: we had to do just that in a course I took a long time ago.
Always paint over sensitive information.
Not in PDF tho. There, the stroke is saved in metadata…
I prefer sampling the surroundings, typing out a different number or text over it, then blurring with a non destructive effect.
Name: Phil McCracken
SSN: EAT-MY-NUTS
Just for anyone who tries
Signature: …
wouldn’t you also need to know in what kind of pattern the blur was applied. I am sure if you do it multiple times starting from multiple non identical partitioning of the region, it will be impossible.
You’re severely underestimating the power of weaponized autism.
Ah man, I remember when they caught some pedo creep who used a non-destructive blur on the CSAM materials he produced that included his face. So satisfying.
He only spiral blurred his face… So they just did it in the opposite direction. It was beyond stupid
I’ve switched to a mosaic blur. Looks neat and always destructive.
Actually not always, there is a script that can recover text from mosaic’d screenshots if the font and pixellation technique is known. I just use a fake mosaic – the easiest way is to paste a bitmap of non-confidential text from elsewhere in the screenshot and then apply the filter.
Thanks for that.
I’m glad I use really huge pixels though. Would be hard to crack these:
I never knew you couldn’t laminate them? Why would they do something like that?
Why are you not allowed to laminate it?
That would make it much easier to fake it
How?
They can’t run it under a tap and see if it falls apart like a real one
That’s a joke right, not something American authorities do?
Yes. It’s a joke. But it is a special type of cardboard-like paper that they use, which is crappy to save money.
The explanation I’ve heard, is if you lose it (outside), you want it to decompress; not float around eternally for someone to fake your Identity with.
Scanning is allowed? A photo?
Any verification requires the physical document.
That’s just plain stupid… Get a federal ID already like most countries.
Eh, I can’t remember the last time I needed to show my social security card. It might have been 2006, when I moved to this state. It’s EXTREMELY rare that we need the physical card. We need the number more often, but most people will have memorized that.
Still, you cannot change the number and it’s a disaster if it leaks, which is very easy. Instead, our country uses IDs with chips that can be used with standard readers to securely authenticate with government and private services online. There is also a changeable PIN and optional third-factor authentication. People who cannot or don’t want to use the system need to visit the institution or a CzechPoint site and show the physical card and their face.
Yeah. In our case it’s worth noting that the social security number system wasn’t designed to be used the way it is used. It was just meant for retirement tracking.
Now if we tried what you described, we’d probably have people screeching about the number of the beast and new evil Democrat deep state conspiracy theories. Sigh.
If you pitch it as “authority of a driver’s license combined with the convenience and security of a chip-based credit card”, it may not be hard to get people on board. It might help to bundle it with benefits such as more automated direct tax filing.
Our country’s post office operates a Datová schránka (“Digital Mailbox”) system where you can basically send email-like messages to people, businesses and institutions that carry the authority of registered mail but delivered in a minute and 10x cheaper. This is optional for individuals and mandatory for businesses, and you need to authenticate with your ID card online or at post offices (which also accept driver’s licenses and passports) to access it (though you can get email/SMS notifications of new mail). The cost is there to limit spam, and to send a message, you need to know the recipient’s address (public for companies, private for individuals unless they choose to publish it). Most people don’t use it but businessmen love the speed and reduction in paperwork. Because right-wing people tend to adore business efficiency and this makes contracts fast and secure, this might help the US ID adoption too.
While you’re at it, get the metric system too!
I got mine in 1986 and it pretty much looks like the picture.
Fun side note: back then, you didn’t get a social security number until you were old enough to get a job. I was fourteen when I got my social security number.
LOL, no. I was born in '71 and my parents got me one immediately. I remember them showing me as a child and thinking, “Why do I care about this?”
Why do people downvote posts like this? What’s the problem? It’s funny, true, and in the right community.
Some people just downvote for weird reasons, so I figure it’s not worth worrying about. Someone once told me they were downvoting every post I share that has bright colors because they use dark mode… Lol
Some people just need a reason to hate and avoid any personal accountability. They’ll take anything they can get, they’ve had a shitty day/year/life and somehow beating up on a faceless stranger feels morally acceptable to them. The truth is, they are in fact just awful people, looking to justify their shitty behavior by correcting grammar or downvoting a complete stranger. Trying their damndest to avoid looking in the mirror. Whilst the rest of us humans, have a shitty day but roll with it. Because if you can’t let it roll off, you will never be happy.
Yes, however
they are in fact just
awfulhurt peopleSome are less familiar with kindness than others.
Sometimes, I try to swipe to go back and accidentally up or downvote things.
Because they are being stupid. You are not supposed to carry it with you. You only take it when you need to for something like the DMV. Otherwise it should just be filed away. A social security card is NOT ID.
Wait are we supposed to carry these around? I became a permanent resident back in 2010 and I don’t think I’ve ever taken mine out of my filing cabinet.
No, you don’t need to carry it around. Memorizing it and keeping it safe for the few occasions you do need the card itself is fine.
When do you ever need it? I just remember the number. I don’t think I’ve ever had to scan
Real ID drivers licenses. In Minnesota it’s one of the forms they accept and if it’s laminated… They say… No
I-9 if you don’t have the other stuff it asks for. Generally need to fill one out at every new job. https://www.uscis.gov/i-9
The last several jobs I have taken, they’ve wanted a scan of it for tax purposes.
I think it’s ironic how this super private personal number that is unique to you and not to be shared is what you have to share with every job, college, financial institution, etc.
This is why I think that temporary SSNs should be a thing . It would be a number that links to your real SSN and would be used to verify your identity, but would stop working after a day or two. That way if a company has a data breach, any SSNs that get stolen would no longer work.
Fun fact, there is a lifetime limit for the number of replacements you can get for these (I forget but I think it’s like 12), if you lose too many no more social security card for you
It’s not impossible, just harder. They’re going to need documentation for it.
But SSN is the root of all identity documentation, except birth certificate I guess
Well it’s more like proving you need it issued again. Although they are going to ask for supporting ID documents too.
Canada issues their SSN cards in hard plastic, which IME is far superior to any credit card plastic. It’s been in my wallet since 1990 and while it looks old, it’s in better shape than almost all of my credit cards - none of which are older than 5 years.
don’t you americans have plastic version’s also, or did i get it wrong?
Nope, no plastic… Just a cardboard print it.
The idea is that if it gets lost outside somewhere, then the paper will degrade to the point that it’s no longer readable. You can always get another card if you lose yours.
Shitty for us dungeon dwellers. We don’t go outside but coffee stains are a real threat.
Hmm, that actually makes a great point. I thought America was just cheap.
For the vast majority of people who keep their cards safely stowed away in a drawer, this will likely never be an issue.
For someone who doesn’t have a safe place to keep one (for instance, homeless), this can get to being an issue pretty quickly.
That said, there are hardship exceptions to this rule.
RM 10205.425 Exception to SSN Card Limits Due to Hardship
When a number holder (NH) reaches his or her yearly or lifetime SSN card limits, an SSN replacement card may still be issued if failure to receive an SSN card will cause a hardship.
To receive an exception due to hardship, the NH must present a letter from a third-party provider, such as a State public assistance agency or an employer, indicating that the NH must present his or her SSN card to receive employment or a benefit.
So you’re not completely fucked, it’s just some extra leg work.
In what way is not replacing an SSN a non-hardship?
It’s required for so much shit.
It is, but you don’t need the physical card for very much. I’ve only ever needed the card for jobs. I’ve never had to apply for welfare, but I do belive you need a physical card to apply. But in most situations, you just need the number.
So what happens when you get 10?
I guess I’ll just Die?
I read somewhere they send a denial letter. Not sure what implications that has.
