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National Identification NumberMany countries use a national identification number as a means of tracking their citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents for the purposes of work, taxation, government benefits, health care, and other governmentally-related functions. Overview The ways in which such a system is implemented is dependent on the country, but in most cases, a citizen is issued a card at birth or when they reach a legal age (typically the age of 18). Non-citizens are issued such cards when they enter the country. Many countries issue such numbers ostensibly for a singular purpose, but over time, it becomes a de facto national identification number. For example, the United States originally developed its Social Security Number system as a means of disbursing Social Security benefits. However, due to functionality creep, the number has become utilized for other purposes to the point where it is almost essential to have one in order to open a bank account, obtain a credit card, etc. National Identification Numbers in Different Countries Australia A TFN is a number identifying onself with the Australian Taxation Office. Brazil In Brazil there are two different systems. The first one, the Registro Geral (RG) is a number associated to the official ID card. Oddly, although the ID cards are supposedly national, the RG numbers are assigned by the states and a few other organizations, such as the armed forces. So, not only it's possible for one to have the same RG number as a person from other state (which is usually dealt with by specifying the state which issued the ID card), but it's also possible to (legally) have more than one RG, from different states. The other system, the Cadastro de Pessoas Fsicas (CPF) is federal and supposedly unique (barring fraud), but it was created originally only for purposes of taxation (a related system is used for companies). One, the other or both numbers are required for many common tasks in Brazil, such as opening bank accounts or getting a driver's license. Generally speaking, the RG system is more widespread (many poor people, who have no bank accounts, never get around to registering for a CPF), but its practical shortcomings have led to debate about merging both systems into a new one, which would be based around the CPF. Canada The Social Insurance Number (SIN) serves much the same purpose as the American Social Security Number. The use of a SIN as a "de facto" ID number has not become as widespread in Canada as the SSN has in the USA. There are only certain specified instances where a person must provide a SIN (namely for tax or retirement benefit related issues). In other instances, a business is free to ask for a person's SIN, but they cannot deny service on the basis that the person can't or won't provide one. Denmark A CPR number is used in dealings with public agencies, from health care to the tax authorities. It is also commonly used as a customer number in banks and insurance companies. Finland In Finland the "Personal ID number" (Sosiaaliturvatunnus, or SOTU) is used for identifying the citizens in many government and civilian systems. It uses the form DDMMYYCZZZQ, where DDMMYY is the date of birth, C is the century identification sign (+ for the 19th century, - for the 20th and A for the 21st), ZZZ is the personal identification number (even for males, odd for females) and Q is a parity character. For example, 311280-999J. France In France, the INSEE number is used for taxation purposes. Germany In Germany, an ID Card ("Personalausweis") is mandatory for all adult citizens. Italy In Italy, the "Codice fiscale" ("fiscal code") is issued to Italians at birth. It is in the format "SSSNNNYYMDDZZZZX", where: SSS are the first three consonants in the family name (the first vowel and possibly an X are used if there are not enough consonants); NNN is the first name, of which the first, third and fourth consonants are used -- exceptions are handled as in family names; YY are the last digits of the birth year; M is the letter for the month of birth -- letters are used in alphabetical order, but letters I, J, K, N, O, Q and letters after T are not used (thus, January is A but October is R); DD is the day of the month of birth -- in order to differentiate between genders, 40 is added to the day of birth for women (thus a woman born on May 3 has ...E43...); ZZZZ is an area code specific to the municipality where the person was born -- country-wide codes are used for foreign countries; X is a parity character as calculated by adding together characters in the even and odd positions, and dividing them by 26. Numerical values are used for letters in even positions according to their alphabetical order. Characters in odd positions have different values. A letter is then used which corresponds to the value of the remainder of the division in the alphabet. An exception algorithm exists in case of perfectly matching codes for two persons. Issuance of the code is centralized to the Ministry of Treasure. The fiscal code uniquely identifies an Italian citizen or permanently resident alien, and is thus used. However, since it can be calculated from personal information (whether real, or not), it is not generally regarded as an extremely reserved piece of information, nor as official proof of identity/existence of an individual. Malaysia In Malaysia, a 12 digit number known as the Identification Card number (IC) is issued to citizens. Prior to 1st January 2004, a separate social security (SOCSO) number was used for social security-related affairs. A smartcard replacement called the MyKad is being introduced. It is issued as soon as the holder reaches the age of 12. The first six numbers of the IC is the date of birth (YYMMDD format). The last number in the 12 digit sequence is an odd number for males, while an even number is given for females. Norway The Norwegian the Personal ID-number has eleven digits - the first six gives the birth date, the next three denotes in which century the person was born, the gender, and makes the number unique, and the last two is for validity control. Sweden In Sweden a Personal ID-number (Swedish, personnummer) is used in dealings with public agencies, from health care to the tax authorities. It is also commonly used as a customer number in banks and insurance companies. The number uses ten digits where the first six gives the birth date. United Kingdom A National Insurance number, generally called a NI Number (NINO), although it is generally only used to administer state benefits, and has not gained the ubiquity of its US equivalent. The number is stylized as LL NN NN NN L, for example AA 01 23 44 B. United States A social security number is a nine digit number resembling "123-00-1234" which is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration of the government of the United States. Formerly people often had no social security number until the age of about 15 or 16, since they were used for tax purposes and those under that age seldom had remunerative employment. In the 1980s, the law was altered so that persons without social security numbers could not be claimed as dependents on tax returns. Since then, parents have often applied for social security numbers for their children as soon as they were born. Former Yugoslavian Nations In former Yugoslavia and subsequent countries, each citizen has a Unique Master Citizen Number (Jedinstveni Matični Broj Građana, JMBG).
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