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by T-hawk 4532 days ago
Popular misconception here: That disclaimer meant possession of the card is not identification, since it doesn't have any verification like a photo. The number does represent identification, as far back as 1943.

Source, the Straight Dope: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/141/why-does-my-old...

The SS card is a name-to-number mapping once the name is already identified by another document like a driver's license or passport.