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NOTICE OF LIMITATION ON SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER USE

AND

DEMAND FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAWS RELATING TO

REQUIREMENTS GOVERNING REQUESTS FOR DISCLOSURE

OF SUCH NUMBER.

This document is to serve NOTICE to the prospective employer, its agents, employees and representatives named herein, that because of the private religious belief of the Citizen named herein, he/she refuses to use a Social Security number. This Right is protected under the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the national Constitution, the Federal Civil Rights Act, and the provisions of the Federal Privacy Act (Title 5, United States Code, Section 552(a)), which limits the disclosure of a social security number.

The theological roots of the Citizen named herein's belief, lie in the New Testament BOOK OF REVELATION which, in its thirteenth chapter, refers to two beasts. REVELATION prophesies that those who receive the mark of the second beast shall be condemned to eternal damnation. See the BOOK OF REVELATIONS 14:9-11. This number is characterized as a number required for buying and selling. The Citizen named herein averts that "social security numbers have come to share many of the characteristics of the mark of the beast." On that account, he/she refuses to provide his Social Security number when applying for employment.

In 1974 Congress passed the Federal Privacy Act (Public Law 93-579, 88 Stat. 1896; as amended). The Privacy Act makes it unlawful to require an individual to disclose or furnish a social security number for any purpose, unless the disclosure or furnishing the number was specifically required under federal law.

The relevance of this Act is simply that it highlights the importance of privacy interests associated with social security information. Cf. Wolman v. United States, 501 F.Supp. 310 (D.C.D.C. 1980), remanded 675 F.2d 1341 (D.C. Cir. 1982), vacated on other grounds, 542 F.Supp. 84 (D.C.D.C. 182) (Section 7 of the Privacy Act was intended, the District Court found, to block indiscriminate governmental use of social security information as the "universal identifier."). See United States v. Two Hundred Thousand Dollars in U.S. Currency, 590 F.Supp 866 (S.D. Fla. 1984).

In enacting Section 7, Congress sought to curtail the expanding use of social security numbers by federal and local agencies and, by so doing, to eliminate the threat to individual privacy and confidentiality of information posed by common numerical identifiers. See S.Rep.No. 1183, 93rd Cong., 2nd. Sess., reprinted in [1974] U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News, pp. 6916, 6944. Underlying this legislative effort was the recognition that widespread use of a standard identification number in collecting information could lead to the establishment of a national data bank or similar informational system, which could store data gathered about individuals from many sources and facilitate government surveillance of its citizens. Id. at 6944-45, 6957. It was anticipated that as the use of the social security number proliferated, the incentive to consolidate records and to broaden access to them by other agencies of government would in all likelihood correspondingly increase. Id. at 6945. Thus, Congress saw a need

for federal legislation to restore to the individual the option to refuse to disclose his social security number without repercussion, except in specifically delineated circumstances outlined in section 7(a)(2).

The federal courts have ruled that private sector solicitors may not obtain social security numbers until they comport their solicitations to comply with disclosure requirements of Privacy Act, including informing customers of voluntariness of disclosure, source of authority for it, and possible uses to which disclosed numbers might be put. Yeager v. Hackensack Water Co., 615 F.Supp. 1087 (1985).

The Internal Revenue Code and the regulations do not contain an absolute requirement that an employer must provide an employee's social security account number to the Internal Revenue Service. Internal Revenue Code Section 6109(a)(3) provides:

Any person required under the authority of this title to make a return, statement or other document with respect to another person, shall request from such other person, and shall include in any return statement, or document, such identifying number as may be prescribed for securing proper identification of such other person. 26 U.S.C. § 6109(a)(3) (Supp. 1995).

The IRS regulation interpreting Section 6109 provides:

If he does not know the taxpayer identifying number of the other person, he shall request such number of the other person. A request should state that the identifying number is required to be furnished under the authority of law. When the person filing the return, statement, or other document does not know the number of the other person, and has complied with the request provision of this paragraph, he shall sign an affidavit on the transmittal document forwarding such returns, statements, or other documents to the Internal Revenue Service so stating. 26 C.F.R. § 301.6109-1(c) (1995).

The applicable Federal statute and regulation place a duty on the employer to request a taxpayer identifying number from the employee. If any return, statement, or other document must be furnished to the Internal Revenue Service and the employer has been unable to obtain an identifying number from the employee, after requesting the number, then the employer need only to include on the transmittal document forwarding such returns, statements, or other documents, an affidavit stating that the request for an employee identifying number was made.

Until December, 1989, 26 U.S.C. § 6676 (1989) set forth the penalties for failing to supply the Internal Revenue Service with identifying number. This section states that a $50.00 penalty will be imposed for failure of a employer to provide an identifying number on any document filed with the Internal Revenue Service unless it is shown that the failure is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. The regulation interpreting the statute provides:

Under Section 301.6109-1(c) a payer is required to request the identifying number of the payee. If after such a request has been made, the payee does not furnish the payer with his identifying number, the penalty will not be assessed against the payer.

26 C.F.R. Reg. § 301.6676-1(a)(3) (1989).

The Omnibus Budget Restoration Act, Pub. Law 101-239, Title VII, Section 7711(b)(1). December 19, 1989, 103 Stat. 2393, repealed Section 6676 of the Internal Revenue Code effective for statements or documents filed after December 31, 1989. Since December 31, 1989, 26 U.S.C. § 6723 (Supp. 1992) has governed the failure to comply with information reporting requirements. Section 6723 provides that a penalty of $50.00 shall be assessed for each failure to comply with a reporting requirement. However, 26 U.S.C. § 6724 (Supp. 1995), provides for a waiver of any penalties assessed under the code upon a showing of reasonable cause. Section 6724(a) provides:

No penalty shall be imposed under this part with respect to any failure if it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. 26 U.S.C. § 6724(a) (Supp. 1995).

Any person who is found in violation of Title 5, United States Code, Section 552(a), for depriving any Citizen of any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law may be subject to "(A) actual damages sustained by the individual as a result of the refusal or failure, but in no case shall a person entitled to recovery receive less than the sum of $1,000.00; and (B) the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court." See Doyle v. Wilson, 529 F.Supp. 1343 (1982).

In addition, should it be found that the rights deprived are, in fact, Constitutionally secured, unalienable Rights, any person, who by act or omission, or under color of Law, deprives the bearer of this document of such secured Right, or Rights, protected by the Constitution of the United States of America, may be subject to Fine of up to $10,000.00, and imprisonment for up to ten years, or both. See Title 18, United States Code, Sections 241, 242; as well as: Title 42, United States Code, Sections 1983, 1985 and 1986, providing for additional civil actions for damages.

Compliance with the Law and the Citizen's intent, as expressly evidenced and implied by this document, is demanded.

Non-compliance with this NOTICE AND DEMAND shall result in the filing of a formal complaint with the appropriate state and federal agencies against the below named employer and representative(s) and immediate action against the below named financial institution and representative(s).

TAKE NOTICE AND GOVERN YOURSELVES ACCORDINGLY.

I, ____________________________________, the undersigned, to hereby verify and certify, that on the _____ day of ___________________, 19___, I personally handed a copy of this document to ________

___________________________________, whose title is: __________________________________. It is my desire to be employed by _________________________________________, whose address is ___________________________________________________________________________.

___________________________________

CITIZEN

___________________________________

WITNESS