By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

Identity theft is running rampant throughout the world, so when a business asks for your social security number, can you refuse?

Jack Myers with the Social Security Administration in Springfield says you can refuse to give over that very sensitive and important identification number, but you have to be prepared if you do.

“You have the right to refuse to give your social security number out, but you do have to be careful about that situation. You have to understand that there are certain circumstances where places are required, so banks are required to get your social security number, employers are required to have it, and a lot of that comes down to wage reporting or earnings reporting issues, so they can report earnings that you have. That’s really what the social security number was for in the first place. But, it’s expanded far beyond that and there are a lot of other businesses and entities who will ask you for your social security number, understand that as long as they’re not using it for some purpose that violates a federal or state law, there’s nothing that prohibits or stops them from asking you for the number, but there’s also nothing that prohibits you or stops you from refusing to give it. The thing you have to be prepared for is, if you refuse to give the number, the place may refuse to give you service,” Myers said.

For more information, visit socialsecurity.gov.