It’s wild seeing people in the US say, “Really? Who would ever consider giving their SSN to join *any* website online? Giving that info to strangers who might misuse it, or where it could be hacked?”

The contrast with what’s normal in South Korea is kind of mind-blowing. Over here, you must give the equivalent of your SSN to:
• get a domestic portal site account (i.e. equivalent of a Google acct)
• do any online shopping at all
• open a phone account
• sign up for local MMORPGs (to avoid the midnight child locks)
• comment on news stories