Sigh. When are we going to stop trying to use things that are not meant to be identifiers (ip addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, SSNs) as identifiers?
Ok. So you have me on one thing: it wasn't originally intended to be used as a personal identifier. You learn something new every day.
But then according to your very own link, it has universally been used and repurposed for this exact thing for the last 45 years, without issues, and with duplicate SSNs no longer being a problem.
I'd say that sounds like a very proven form of identification. So what problem do you (OP / ams6110) have with people using it as such?
> So what problem do you (OP / ams6110) have with people using it as such?
A SSN is the "secret" bit to a small amount of otherwise-public info (name, address, some other bits) to getting a loan or credit card or other credit-related actions in my name.
I went to a small two-year school that used SSNs as their personal identifier numbers. Someone broke in and stole student records. Now the school's poor identity choices has put thousands of students' financial identities at risk.
One problem with using an SSN as a identifier is that the number exists for the administration of the Social Security system, so only people who pay into or will receive money from the system are eligible for a number.
Not everyone in the US is eligible for an SSN (e.g., some non-residents living in the US). When I first came to the US as a student, I had difficulty doing things like signing up for a credit card or a cellphone for this reason.
There are other numbers that systems sometimes but do not consistently accept, for instance an ITIN, which is the tax ID number the IRS will issue you if you aren't eligible for a SSN.
The entire point of my phone number, or my email address, is to identify me. Email doesn't get sent "to whoever is interested", it gets sent to designated people. How are those not meant to be identifiers?
They are intended to be delivery points for messages, not identifiers for non-messaging uses. The fact that the two functions are similar does not mean they are identical. Treating them as if they are identical just creates all kinds of (often unexpected) failure modes where the two functions don't overlap.
On Wikipedia, we tend to not use indefinite IP blocks (there are some, but not many).
For business and organisation IPs, if we get vandalism from that IP, we'll stick it on a long-term block (usually a year) and renew that block if there's recurring vandalism when the block expires.
That doesn't affect the fact that the email address exists to identify the person. You'd need to say "people often share email addresses in common", which they don't.
we have a shared email address between us that the kids use, and I use to sign up for some stuff.
My parents have 3 emails addresses between themselves, and use them pretty much interchangeably.
I worked at a distance education provider for a couple of years, and we commonly had entire families using the same email address.
It turns out that when you sign up with an ISP, they give you a single email address by default, and you can - if you wish to, and know how, add more of your own.
I've found it very difficult to convince some people that my wife and I have separate email accounts -- sufficiently so that I set up a shared alias that forwards to both of us so I can give it to those people. I know plenty of couples who share an email account.
