Definition
Plain language
The nine-digit identity number issued to people in the United States.
Also called: SSN
Why it matters: It is the kind of high-stakes personal identifier that confidentiality tests use precisely because leaking even part of it causes real harm.
For example, a customer-service assistant might be given a client's Social Security Number in its hidden instructions and told never to repeat it back.
Heard on the show
“Canonical system prompt, workspace files, and a nine-digit Social Security Number sitting on line nine of a user memory file.”Episode 246 — 160 Perfect Refusals, And The Refusals Were The Leak