To keep your account active in the United States, every user must submit their Social Security Number (SSN) to Facebook by September 1st, 2016.
“It assures accountability from the user,” said Facebook spokesman Julie Roberts. “Our first step was to collect your email, then we got everyone’s phone number, now it’s time to collect Social Security Numbers. As with all data, we will keep it safe and only sell what we need to.”
Rumors are speculating about Facebook offering banking products and SSN is necessary to allow users to open checking and savings accounts. A partnership with Visa would then allow for debit and credit cards, mostly likely via mobile payment through the ‘Facebook Bank app.`
Facebook also makes money off people’s content they provide for free. If the company plans on paying people for content that drives content, tax forms will be needed and the SSN will make payments easier. But Roberts said, “We have no intention of paying our users for their free content, that would be crazy.
“It cost us money to host the content and let’s be real; Facebook doesn’t really make much money. Our value is in the data we have on nearly two billion people worldwide. That’s true power and true value.”
Notifications to have users enter their Social Security Numbers will begin rolling out the end of July. Accounts will deactivate September 1st if you don’t provide the number.
