[wordup] When CA DMV gains access to SSA database

[Adam Shand]

sorry for the long silence i only just got back from a trip. - adam.

From: The Eristocracy <Eristocracy at merrymeet.com>

Apparently the California DMV gained access to the computerized database
of the Social Security Administration at the beginning of the year.
Sometime in February or March the DMV began bouncing back all requests to
renew drivers licenses in which the name given did not exactly match the
name in the SSA computers.

I learned of this the day my license expired when I attempted to renew it
and was told that because my Social Security number was issued under the
name Beth back in the 1960s, according to the DMV I was attempting to
defraud the government "and possibly engaged in identity theft" by
attempting to get a drivers license under the name Elizabeth
Weise--despite the fact that the State of California has accorded me a
drivers license under that name for eight years now.

A call to the Social Security Administration confirmed that since the DMV
was given the ability to hook directly into the SSA's computers, they've
been flooded with Robert-Bob's, Richard-Dicks's and Alex-Alexander's who
are all being told they can't renew their licenses until they officially
change their names. For the record, the clerk at the SSA told me "We
understand that Beth and Elizabeth are the same person and it doesn't
bother us, but the DMV won't let it by any more." To fix this one must
personally go to an SSA office and have them change their official record.

The identification they require?
A California drivers license.

Elizabeth Weise, Technology Reporter, USA Today Life Section
2912 Diamond St. #407, San Francisco CA 94131 415/452-8741 eweise at usatoday.com