Canadians and SINs

Speaking as a Canadian citizen and listening to Canadian chat (remember folks this is directed purely at Canadian citizens - I dont know anything about YOUR country laws if you are NOT Canadian) - we are NOT allowed to give SINs to any organization/company other than a Canadian government agency - and even a potential employer must be aware of the gravity of using that number.
Recently the RCMP issued a warning regarding the confidentiality of the SIN.
Please be careful of granting access via use of this number.
Remember, I am directing this to Canadians so dont want to get into a slang-match/discussion of benefits of age verification with other nationals.

What is it with bloody Canadians? Do they all have to have their own threads?

Get together and coordinate your efforts chaps, or or I may have to talk to the Queen about you guys and the Commonwealth.

OK -really- there are now three threads on Canada/Age verif. Common folks, we're only about 3% here, can't we stick to the same thread?

I'll post my answer in a new thread.

What's the "Commonwealth"?

No
I dont come from the same province as you.
I want my own thread.

I want my OWN identity!!
Speaking of which we have enough of a hard time qualifying our identity in Canada - verifying ourselves in SL is like asking for water from the moon.

nm too much info

US immigration is a government agency - unless I am sadly mistaken SecondLife does not have any affiliations with REAL governments and is not a signed member of NAFTA or, U.N. or anywhere else for that matter. It is a bit like giving Walmart your entire life (which they may have already, for all I know) BUT I am not risking it.

jig you make mention though that it is to be given to only a canadian gov or agency

where do you get this info that canadians are NOT allowed to share their personal information?

its the law here in Canada...

Is it an actual law? Or merely the governmen'ts strong recomendation.

Would the mounties actually come an arrest you if they found out?

Mind citing something that actually says what the fines/punishments are for breaking this "law"?

Your SIN is the key to every single piece of information the government compiles on you, e.g. tax records, census, employment insurance, etc.

And given that SL/Integrity CANNOT verify your age using any of these numbers, since government agencies are forbiden to provide ANY info to ANY non-governmental third party, THEN WHY ARE THEY ASKING FOR THEM?


If you are a premuim member and tried to verify, you've provided a way for SL/Integrity to link your government id with your credit card, via your avatar name.

Canada has very strong privacy laws and while it is NOT illegal for SL/Integrity to ask for SIN, Canadians are under no obligation to provide a SIN, OR ANY OTHER OF THE ASKED-FOR NUMBERS, to them. NONE of them can be used to age-verify, so WHY are they asking for them?

OMG my cousin gave his SIN over teh interweb and CSIS caught him and now he's doing 10 years in Kingston!



Enough of the FUD though. It is strongly suggested that you do not give out this information. It is not illegal to give it out. It is not illegal for them to ask for it. It *is* illegal for them to insist upon it. And it *is* impossible to use it to verify your identity or age, because it *is* illegal for any government agency or any other company to provide the data to them to compare against.

-Atashi

actually it IS Illegal for LL to even ask us for this type of information. call your local federal/provincial office or better yet your MP

For Canadian residents using IDV, is providing your SIN a *requirement* for Identity Verification, or an *optional* component?

Has anyone verified this either way, or we're just guessing at this point?

According to Aristotle's page here:

http://www.aristotle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=113&Itemid=145

Within the page above, it appears that SIN is suggested, but not required.

Yes, that's my understanding. But the point is that ANY of the forms of ID asked for CANNOT be used for age verification, because no government agency provides ANY info to ANY non-governmental third party. Our Privacy Act is quite strong in this regard.

If SL/Integrity cannot use ANY of those numbers to age-verify, then WHY are they asking for them? You could provide them, but you'd be a fool to do so.

this is some interesting reading about the Canadian SIN

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/about/reports/sin/cop/section2.shtml

"Since it is not against the law to ask for an individual’s SIN, many private-sector organizations may request your SIN. Businesses might ask for your SIN as identification or to check your credit rating. However, because your SIN card is not a piece of identification, you should not show your SIN card or provide your number unless you are satisfied it is necessary. Your SIN is issued only to you and you have to protect it."

and it is not illegal to give out your sin number, just strongly recommended you do not give it out.

Since when do peoples bother about what their country allow them to do or not?

Unless there is some hidden motivation.

It's NOT a Law, It's an Advisory to the SIN Number Holder, However it IS Unlawful for people Other than Government, or Potential employers to DEMAND it for any Sort of service and/or verification. Anyone doing so, or using or refusing services to "Extort" the Number from Clients,,, Well lets say the RCMP and Revenue Canada would be Interested in their Reasons for Demanding it. You see, there is NO Publicly available Database from which anyone Could Verify Personal Information. The SIN Number, as used by an Employer is a ONE WAY Valve, by which They Inform Revenue Canada, and other concerned agencies that "This person is employed by us, and Taxes and Benifits Charges will be deducted and Paid on Behalf of this Number". They Cannot use it to Verify any of the Information the Potential Employees place on their applications, or resume's. Therefore, anyone Claiming they want it for any form of Verification, If they are not Representing the Canadian Federal, or Provincial Governments, They are Knowingly Misrepresenting their Intent.

I wasn't Born Canadian. Lol Ask an Imigrant.

Angel.

I think asking Canadians for their SIN over the internet, whether it is legal or not, simply shows how irresponsible this company is. Saying it is only a "suggestion" is a way to sidestep.
Since not everyone has a DR or a passport, but most if not all of us have a SIN, posting a warning to those who didn't know already how vulnerable using your SIN anywhere else but with trusted 3rd parties, is surely appreciated.

ANY? But that's not accurate. Did you pull up the webpage I referenced & look?

According to the webpage, only the following identifying information is *required*:

First Name
Last Name
Postal Code
Date of Birth
Phone Number

Are not these standard pieces of information that you were asked when you signed up for your SL account in the first place?

Secondly - have you tried to verify yet, and failed? Or we're making a big rukus over assumptions?

Yes, Travis. Many of us have tried using the information you listed and were unable... I wasn't.

If you guys are correct (sorry to be so questioning, I'm just a facts kinda guy) - this is indeed a big deal.

Sorry to hijack the Canadians-only thread .

According to that site, phone number is *required* for my country yet there isn't any field anywhere on the verification page to put it in, so either the information on the page you quoted simply doesn't apply, or LL is going about it entirely the wrong way.

(Edited to add that it could be interesting to see if concierge accounts who previously verified can still verify an alt now)

Well, it couldn't *possibly* be that, "LL is going about it entirely the wrong way."