How can I protect my Social Insurance Number (SIN) and my SIN card?

There are a number of things you can do to protect your SIN and your SIN card:

• Only provide your Social Insurance Number if you know that it is legally required.
• Contact Service Canada if you change your name, your citizenship status changes, information on your SIN record is incorrect or incomplete, or if there is a death in your family.
• Inform Service Canada if your SIN card is lost or if you suspect that your SIN is being used inappropriately.

Here are additional tips on how to protect your SIN:

• Don't carry your SIN card with you.
• Store your card safely, for example, in a secure file cabinet at home or in a safety deposit box.
• Never use your SIN card as a piece of identification. Doing so puts your SIN and personal information at risk.
• Don't provide your SIN over the phone unless you make the call and you know with whom you are dealing.
• Never reply to e-mails that request personal information such as your SIN.
• Protect your personal information and your SIN. For example:
  • shred all paper records containing personal information once you no longer need them
  • use confidential passwords that contain a combination of upper and lower case characters, numbers and symbols
  • never use automatic login features that save user names and passwords on your computer
  • use a personal firewall and anti-virus software on your computer system.