Re: Why do AT&T even have these details?
It's mainly because there's no national ID system beyond the Social Security number. The SSN is mainly used for credit reporting purposes so they can uniquely identify you if and report you if you fail to pay on your contract. States issue their own drivers' licenses which have unique numbers, and shockingly few Americans have current passports. I guess that's part of living in a huge country that spans 4 time zones (and doesn't have the best record of understanding that there's a whole "rest of the world" out there.) So, SSN and DL numbers are the main ways people are identified in the US.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
