No social Security Number? Forget an iPhone
Update: There is a workaround for this problem, which allows you to sign-up for a prepaid account with AT&T which sidesteps the need for a Social Security Number. The Unofficial Apple Weblog has the full details.
I’m working in the US at the moment, and decided to pick up an iPhone. I’m here long enough to justify it (well, justifying a $600 phone is pretty damn hard). No problems in getting one – the SF Apple Store had plenty.
The problem is that as part of the signup for AT&T, I need not only a credit card with US billing address, but also social security number. I have neither. The shop assistant knew I was from the UK but mentioned nothing about this.
So now I had an iPhone that is a very pretty brick. I guess it’ll be going back in the morning…
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 1st, 2007 at 1:53 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “No social Security Number? Forget an iPhone”
[...] Sam’s off in the States at the moment, and he left Carlos and I in charge of London 2.0. Predictably, nothing has happened. [...]
I am a US citizen with a SS number. I took my iphone back because of the “gotta have the Social security number” policy. I called ATT and Apple from local level to the executive level. No one seemed to be taking responsibility and instead pointed fingers at each other. Also, ATT did not allow a business or corporation to start the ATT services and instead insisted the phone be “registered” to an individual withing the company using their SS #. Lastly, according to the agreement, the phone service is not transferable enough times for business use. To me, this is a bad deal, and i can easily walk away from it. What happened to the other 500,000 plus people?
JH
I totally understand your complaint, and I won’t get an iPhone until I can have a provider that doesn’t assist the government in spying.
I realize it is too late for you, but there appears to be a workaround:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/01/prepaid-iphone-in-a-nutshell/
If you don’t have an SSN, how are you able to work in the US?
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