Employer Use of Social Security Numbers
Nebraska Employee SSN Protection Law
Employees · Data security
Enacted in LB674 (2007), this law restricts how Nebraska employers display and use employees' Social Security numbers. Employers may not post or share more than the last four digits publicly or with coworkers, use full SSNs as employee IDs or unsecured web logins, or keep them in unrestricted files.
- Where
- Nebraska
- Citation
- Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-237
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 2008-09-01
- Enforced by
- County attorneys (criminal prosecution)
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Class V misdemeanor; a conviction is admissible in a civil trial as evidence of the employer's negligence (48-237(4)-(5)).
- Applies to
- Any person (including the state and political subdivisions) that employs an individual in Nebraska (48-237(1)(a), (c))
Practices it requires
- Do not publicly post or display, or make available to the public or coworkers, more than the last four digits of an employee's SSN.Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-237(2)(a)
- Do not use more than the last four digits of an SSN as an employee number.Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-237(2)(d)
- Use full SSNs only for legal compliance, internal administration (benefits, screening, staffing), or voluntary purchases, and never in files with unrestricted access, files open to unbonded temporary workers, drug-testing IDs (unless required), meeting IDs, or company postings.Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-237(3)
Security duties
- Do not require employees to transmit more than the last four SSN digits over the Internet unless the connection is secure or the data encrypted, or to use them to access a website without another authentication factor.Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-237(2)(b)-(c)
Sources
- Official text
- Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-237 (Nebraska Legislature)
- LB674 (2007) slip law, sec. 17 (sec. 16 operative September 1, 2008) (Nebraska Legislature)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Mapping of LB674 section 16 to 48-237 is from the statute's source note (Laws 2007, LB674, sec. 16); the slip law's operative clause sets section 16 operative September 1, 2008.
Research reference, not legal advice.