Though full implementation of an alternative system of ID numbers won't happen until 2012, the Defense Department is continuing its efforts to decrease the use of Social Security numbers (SSNs), Federal News Radio reports. The Navy will no longer post announcements of promotions and other personnel messages that include the last four digits of individuals' SSNs on its public Web site. The Office of the Secretary of Defense ordered, in a November 23 memorandum, that no part of any SSN be posted on any public Web site, the report states. Last month, a former West Point professor wrote in a journal article that the U.S. needs to do a better job protecting the identities of its military personnel.
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