Why is a Social Security Number (SSN) required to complete a report?
Only the SSNs of on duty civilians and military persons injured in the mishap or hazard will be required to be reported. In keeping with DON and OSD taskers, WESS will capture SSN to facilitate joining of WESS data with data in other databases, such as training and medical databases. This functionality is essential in verifying the completeness of WESS data and, by utilizing other databases, a more complete picture of factors involved in the events will facilitate analysis and remediation of these factors. SSN is the common link between these databases and will be used only to link WESS information with information from other databases. WESS will not retrieve information by specific SSN. WESS complies with the Privacy Act. Routine report users will not see SSNs on mishap reports or logs.
