Giving my Social Security Number to Google?

Is it safe?

[BKLYNintheBlood]

I heard many bad things about giving away social security numbers on the internet.. Is it safe giving the number to google?

[Never_again]

It is about as safe as it will get on the Internet. If you are not comfortable doing so, as Google if you can complete a W-9 and mail it to them.

Google is required by U.S. law to collect the SSN or EIN from any U.S. citizen. They can't pay you without it.

[Jenstar]

They also address it in their FAQ:
[google.com...]

[fclark]

get a business tax id number instead if you don't want to share your social security number.

[level80]

Oh and if it helps - it's also encrypted - as your credit card would be if you entered it on a website. Oh I found this on Google's website about it too:-

Google uses industry-standard SSL (secure socket layer) technology to protect this and other personal information you provide us. In addition, taxpayer ID numbers are stored in encrypted format for additional security. Please read the Google Privacy Policy for more information about what we do to protect your privacy.

[jonknee]

In this day and age it is impossible to avoid giving out your SSN most times. At colleges your SSN is used when you get a student ID (often it's your student ID #), when you purchase something on scholarship, for test scores, etc. With SSL it's no biggy.