In order to sign up for TV satellite service with DishTV, I have been
asked to give not only my credit card number but also my social
security number "so that we can grade your credit rating." 

Is there a risk to providing a company with my social security number
for a transaction of this sort?  If so, what is it?

Hi, Ted ~

That's a good question, and I don't blame you for being concerned
about handing out your credit card number to private parties.

While there are many restrictions on government agencies asking for
your number, there are few on individuals or companies.

When someone from a government agency asks for your number, they are
required to provide a Privacy Act Disclosure Notice, which is required
to tell you what law allows them to ask, whether you have to provide
your number, and what will happen if you don't provide the number.

Private companies or individuals aren't required to follow this law.
However, it may be that your only recourse recourse is to find another
company to do business with if you don't like their policies.

There is a good discussion of why it isn't necessarily a great idea to
freely give your Social Security Number to everyone who asks presented
by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
[ http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/SSN-History.html ]

I'd recommend reading the entire article, but would draw your
attention to the section on "Why to Resist Requests for Your SSN"
[ http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/SSN-History.html#resist ]
 
The Privacy Rights Clearninghouse has an excellent article, "My Social
Security Number: How Secure Is It?", which discusses again how easy
identity theft becomes if someone is in possession of your Social
Security Number:
[ http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs10-ssn.htm ]

And specifically, EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), has
information on their testimony before the Subcommittee on Social
Security and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on
identity theft:
[ http://www.epic.org/privacy/ssn/ ]

Your concern is valid. You have no idea how secure their information
is, and the fact that they are inquiring into your background using
your SSN is a reason to be concerned. How you handle the matter is, of
course, up to you, but at least you are armed with a bit of
information as you deal with the situation.

Search terms used:
 - identity theft
 - social security numbers +identity theft
 - social security number privacy act
 - social security numbers privacy

Hope this helps,
Serenata

Great answer. Just what I was looking for.  Thank you, Serenata!

Nowadays many companies will only ask for the last 4 digits of the
SS#, and that's usually just a security thing. I would be leary of
giving out my SS# to anyone. It's one thing giving it out to secure a
big dollar loan, but quite another if it's just to get cable tv. Tell
the cable folks that you have a policy of not giving out your SS#, and
see if they will allow you some other method of ID.

If you are absolutely certain that (whether they have contacted you by
phone or whether you have contacted them by phone) that you are
speaking with someone at the DISH TV official office, then you should
have no qualms about giving them the number.  First ask them what
their official policy is about privacy or if the policy is posted on
their website.  Truth be told, they are a large enough company that
they could actually find out what your number is without your giving
it to them, since they subscribe to a credit bureau database in order
to review people's files.  Only reason they are asking you for it is
to make sure they extract your specific credit report as a safeguard
prevention against pulling someone else's record with the same name as
yours.

Their computer system is probably most secure, but you should put a
high priority on keeping your number as confidential as possible (who
knows whether hackers or even people who have legitimate access could
find your number and use it for identity theft--which would be a big
headache for you to resolve!!).  Therefore, you should tell them that
they should be able to pull your record using your name, middle name
and date of birth to get the correct file and then verify it by
matching it with your address, and if you prefer to keep your number
private, then you can insist on doing so.  Only give it out if they
say they will refuse to give you service without it.

SINCERELY,
4keith-ga