The problem is that private US companies <i>are</i> allowed to refuse you service if they ask for a SSN and you do not provide it.<p>A while back, in 2007, I think, I tried to get copper-loop telephone service to my house, with AT&amp;T.  They wanted a SSN.  I wouldn&#x27;t give it.  So they refused to give me dial tone.<p>And I haven&#x27;t given AT&amp;T a single penny since, more due to the snotty, imperious, Ernestine-like attitude I got from every single customer service rep I talked to than any great reluctance to hand over some 9-digit number.  I actually haven&#x27;t had any copper-loop phone service at all since.  It&#x27;s been all VoIP and mobile, and I only have the latter by spouse mandate.<p>I have since given up the fight against misuse of SSNs.  It&#x27;s Sisyphus rolling the boulder uphill--a constant, arduous struggle that ultimately produces no useful results.