He mentions that there are "shockingly complete" SSN databases available online. Is there any more information on this? Any way to find out if your own SSN or that of a loved one might be in such a database?
Your SSN was never intended to be a secret, and the fact that anyone ever treated it as such was a flawed idea.
I completely agree. Unfortunately, many places that use SSN for identity verification don't seem to think so.
It's quite likely. I was at a presentation by Kevin Mitnick recently where he pulled members of the audience on stage, and, using only their name, found their SSN and history of residence. They're not very private, unfortunately.